Indian GST registration for foreign suppliers — how much of this can I do myself?
Some of it, yes — and we will say so on the call if that is the honest answer. The parts that are worth paying for are the ones where a missed election, a missed deadline or an unverified threshold costs more than the fee: digital services to consumers fall in a dedicated simplified regime, while supplies to Indian businesses may be handled by the recipient under reverse charge.
What if I have already filed and got it wrong?
That is a common starting point. We re-derive the position, identify whether an amendment or a disclosure route is the right vehicle, and tell you which one preserves the relief that is still available. The order matters more than the speed.
How long will it take?
It depends on the documents rather than on us. Once the pack is complete most filings turn around inside a fortnight; anything that needs a certificate from a tax authority runs on that authority's timetable, which we tell you at the start rather than at the end.
We sell software subscriptions to customers in India — do we need to register?
If you supply services to consumers in India from outside India, the starting assumption is that you register in India for those supplies and account for the tax yourself. Digital services delivered to consumers fall within a dedicated simplified regime built for suppliers with no establishment in India. Supplies to Indian businesses are a different route, because the recipient may be the one who accounts for the tax under reverse charge. The registration question therefore turns on who your customers are, and a business selling to both will usually have to deal with both answers.
Do we charge Indian GST to business customers or do they account for it?
Where the customer is a registered business in India, the tax on an inbound supply of services is commonly accounted for by the recipient under reverse charge, and the foreign supplier does not charge it. Where the customer is a consumer, that mechanism is not available and the supplier deals with the tax through registration in India. The practical consequence is that your customer's status is a tax determination rather than a sales classification, and it needs evidence: the customer's Indian registration particulars, captured at sign-up and retained.
How do we know whether an Indian customer is a business or a consumer?
You ask, and you keep the answer. The route that applies depends on the customer's status, so evidence of that status has to be collected in the sales process rather than reconstructed from invoices later. In practice that means capturing and storing the customer's Indian registration particulars where business status is claimed, validating them at the point of sale, and treating a customer who provides nothing as a consumer for the purposes of the supply. Build it into the checkout and it happens by itself. Leave it to the sales team and it does not.
Do we need a representative in India if we have no office there?
Possibly, and it forms part of the registration question rather than sitting apart from it. A foreign supplier registering in India may be required to appoint a representative in India in connection with the registration and the filings that follow. Having no establishment in India does not keep you outside the system, because the supply is taxed by reference to where the customer is rather than where you are. Settle the representative arrangement at the same time as the registration, since the return cycle begins as soon as registration does.
What does the Indian filing cycle mean for an overseas supplier?
It means periodic returns on India's calendar rather than on yours. Once registered, the obligation recurs and it does not wait for your own reporting periods or your year end. Revenue has to be reported in the categories India expects, tax paid in Indian rupees, and the filings kept current even in periods with little activity. The common failure is a first registration followed by a gap, because nobody inside the business owned the cycle. Give it to a named person and treat it as a standing monthly process.
We have no entity in India — does that mean Indian GST does not apply?
No. The test looks at where the supply is consumed and who the customer is, not at whether the supplier has a presence in India. That is the reason a dedicated regime exists for foreign suppliers of digital services to Indian consumers in the first place. Having no entity affects how you comply — registration as a foreign supplier, a representative where one is required, filings made from outside India — rather than whether you have to. Confirm the position before the revenue builds, because registering late means dealing with the past as well as the present.
What are Forms 15CA and 15CB for?
They clear a payment out of India. Form 15CA is the remitter's declaration of the payment and the tax withheld on it; Form 15CB is an accountant's certificate on the taxability of the amount, the treaty article relied on and the correct withholding rate. The bank generally will not execute the transfer without them, in the categories where they are required. The work is deciding the rate correctly, because the certificate is the record of that decision. See 15CA and 15CB certification.
How do I get a refund of TCS collected on a foreign remittance?
You claim it on your Indian return for that year. The collected amount is credited against your total tax, and if it exceeds the tax due the balance is refunded like any excess payment. Two practical conditions: the collector must have filed its statement so the credit appears in your annual tax statement, and your PAN must be correctly recorded on the remittance. A salaried remitter can also ask their employer to account for it against salary withholding. See LRS limits and TCS.
