Opened a branch in Hyderabad: how to amend your GST registration

You have opened a branch in Hyderabad. Your company already has a GST registration. What do you have to tell the GST department, and by when?

The answer depends on one thing: is your existing registration in Telangana, or in another State?

Step zero: which State is your registration in?

GST registration is State-wise. A company is registered under GST in each State from which it makes taxable supplies. Hyderabad is in Telangana. So look at the first two characters of your GSTIN (your GST number), which are the State code (rule 10(1), Central Goods and Services Tax Rules 2017). If your GSTIN is a Telangana one, you are in the first case below. If it belongs to any other State, you are in the second case.

Case 1: you already hold a Telangana registration. The Hyderabad branch is a new "additional place of business" inside a State where you are already registered. You amend your registration. You do not register again.

Case 2: you are registered only in another State. The Hyderabad branch sits in a State where you have no registration. You may need a fresh registration in Telangana. An amendment of your old registration will not fix this.

What counts as a place of business

The law does not limit this to an office. "Place of business" includes a place from where business is ordinarily carried on, and a warehouse, a godown or any other place where a taxable person stores goods or supplies or receives goods or services. It also includes a place where you keep your books of account, and a place where you do business through an agent, by whatever name called (s.2(85), Central Goods and Services Tax Act 2017).

So a Hyderabad office where your team sits, a storage room for stock, or the place where your accountant keeps your books can each be a place of business.

Case 1: amend your registration (Telangana already registered)

The deadline clock

When any detail you gave in your registration application changes, you must apply for amendment "within a period of fifteen days of such change" (rule 19(1), Central Goods and Services Tax Rules 2017).

The change here is the new address. The law counts fifteen days "of such change". Treat the day the Hyderabad place becomes part of your business as day one of the count.

Which form

The application is made electronically in FORM GST REG-14, signed or verified through an electronic verification code (EVC), with the documents relating to the change. You file it on the common GST portal, either directly or through a Facilitation Centre notified by the Commissioner (rule 19(1), CGST Rules 2017).

Check the current list of supporting documents on the GST portal before you file.

What happens after you file

A change in the address of "any additional place or places of business" is one of the changes that needs the tax officer's approval (rule 19(1), proviso (a)(ii), CGST Rules 2017), provided the change does not warrant cancellation of registration under s.29. The officer must approve within fifteen working days from receiving your REG-14 and issue an order in FORM GST REG-15 electronically (rule 19(1), proviso (a)).

The officer may disagree or find your papers incomplete. In that case, within the same fifteen working days, the officer can serve a notice in FORM GST REG-03 asking you to show cause why your application should not be rejected. You then have seven working days from service to answer, and you reply in FORM GST REG-04 (rule 19(2) and (3), CGST Rules 2017).

If the reply is not satisfactory, or if you send none, the officer rejects the application by an order in FORM GST REG-05 (rule 19(4), CGST Rules 2017). If the officer does nothing within fifteen working days of your application, or within seven working days of your reply, the certificate stands amended as you applied (rule 19(5), CGST Rules 2017).

From which date does the new place count?

Two parts of rule 19 speak to this, and they have to be read together.

Proviso (a) to rule 19(1) says an approved address amendment takes effect "from the date of the occurrence of the event warranting such amendment". Read alone, that looks like a back-dated effect.
Rule 19(1A) then opens with "Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-rule (1)". It says no particular in the application "shall not stand amended with effect from a date earlier than the date of submission of the application in FORM GST REG-14 on the common portal", unless the Commissioner passes an order, for reasons recorded in writing and on conditions the Commissioner specifies (rule 19(1A), CGST Rules 2017).

Because rule 19(1A) overrides sub-rule (1) with its opening words, the safe reading is that the new place counts from your REG-14 submission date, not from the day you moved in, unless the Commissioner orders otherwise. Do not plan on a back-dated amendment. File early, so the gap between the day you start working from Hyderabad and the day you file is as short as you can make it.

Display the certificate and number at the branch

Once the place is on your registration, you must display your registration certificate in a prominent location at your principal place of business "and at every additional place or places of business". You must also display your GSTIN on the name board at the entry of each such place (rule 18, CGST Rules 2017).

Case 2: you are registered only in another State

The rule

Every person liable to be registered must apply "in every such State or Union territory in which he is so liable", within thirty days from the date on which the person becomes liable to registration (s.25(1), Central Goods and Services Tax Act 2017).

Two other provisions matter here.

Persons making any inter-State taxable supply are required to be registered, notwithstanding the turnover limit in s.22(1) (s.24(i), CGST Act 2017). If your Hyderabad branch sends goods or services to customers in other States, that rule is in play.
Where a person registered in one State "has an establishment in another State or Union territory", those establishments are treated as establishments of distinct persons for the purposes of the Act (s.25(5), CGST Act 2017). A person with more than one registration is treated as a distinct person for each registration (s.25(4), CGST Act 2017). Your Hyderabad branch and your head office are not one taxpayer for GST.

Whether you are liable in Telangana depends on your supplies from Hyderabad. The basic turnover limit is twenty lakh rupees in a financial year, and ten lakh rupees for supplies from special category States (s.22(1) and its first proviso, CGST Act 2017), but the inter-State rule above applies regardless. If unsure, take advice before deciding not to register.

The clock and the form

The clock is thirty days from the date you become liable (s.25(1), CGST Act 2017). The application is a fresh one in FORM GST REG-01. In Part A you first declare your Permanent Account Number and State or Union territory on the common portal (rule 8(1), CGST Rules 2017). Choose Telangana as the State. Your PAN is the same as for your existing registration.

The tax officer must approve the grant of registration within seven working days of submission, if the application and documents are in order (rule 9(1), CGST Rules 2017).

Why you cannot just amend

An amendment under rule 19 only changes particulars of an existing registration. Your existing registration is for the other State. Adding a Telangana address to it does not register you in Telangana, because registration is State by State (s.25(1) and s.25(5), CGST Act 2017).

What not to do

Do not file a registration application when an amendment is what you need. In Case 1 you are amending, so use REG-14. A second registration in the same State is a different thing. A person may be granted a separate registration for each place of business in a State "subject to such conditions as may be prescribed" (s.25(2), proviso, CGST Act 2017). That is a choice with its own conditions, not the default for a branch.

Do not give wrong particulars. Report the new place accurately. A taxable person who "furnishes any false information with regard to registration particulars, either at the time of applying for registration, or subsequently" is liable to a penalty of ten thousand rupees or an amount equivalent to the tax evaded (and the other amounts listed in the section), whichever is higher (s.122(1)(xii), CGST Act 2017).

Do not skip registration where you are liable. A taxable person who "is liable to be registered under this Act but fails to obtain registration" faces the same penalty (s.122(1)(xi), CGST Act 2017). The tax itself is payable separately.

Beyond GST: two Telangana items for the same branch

A Hyderabad branch brings other registrations that are often missed.

Shops and establishments registration. Under the Telangana Shops and Establishments Act 1988, the employer of a new establishment must register "within thirty days from the date on which the establishment commences its work" (s.3(1)(ii), Telangana Shops and Establishments Act 1988). Check fees and exemptions with the Telangana authorities before you file.

Professional tax. If the branch has salaried staff in Telangana, professional tax applies to salaries. Under the First Schedule of the Telangana Tax on Professions, Trades, Callings and Employments Act 1987, salary up to ₹15,000 a month is nil, ₹15,001 to ₹20,000 is ₹150 a month, and above ₹20,000 is ₹200 a month. Directors (other than those nominated by the Government) drawing remuneration pay ₹2,500 a year (First Schedule, Telangana Tax on Professions, Trades, Callings and Employments Act 1987). Check the current position with the Telangana authorities before you act.

What to do now

Find the State of your GSTIN. The first two digits tell you. This decides Case 1 or Case 2.
Case 1, Telangana registered: file FORM GST REG-14 on the GST portal with documents for the new address. Deadline: within fifteen days of the change (rule 19(1), CGST Rules 2017). Consequence of delay: the amendment cannot take effect from a date earlier than your filing date without the Commissioner's order (rule 19(1A), CGST Rules 2017).
Case 2, registered elsewhere: apply for a new registration in Telangana in FORM GST REG-01. Deadline: within thirty days from the date you become liable (s.25(1), CGST Act 2017). Consequence of delay: penalty of ten thousand rupees or an amount equivalent to the tax evaded, whichever is higher (s.122(1)(xi), CGST Act 2017).
Display the certificate and GSTIN at the branch, as soon as the place is on your registration (rule 18, CGST Rules 2017).
Register the branch under the Telangana Shops and Establishments Act 1988 within thirty days of starting work there (s.3(1)(ii), Telangana Shops and Establishments Act 1988).

Have a CA review your facts before you act or file.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Hyderabad office a new GST registration or an amendment?
It depends on where you are registered now. If you already hold a Telangana registration, it is an amendment of that registration in FORM GST REG-14 (rule 19(1), CGST Rules 2017). If you are registered only in another State, you may need a fresh registration in Telangana (s.25(1), CGST Act 2017).

How long do I have to report a new additional place of business?
Fifteen days from the change (rule 19(1), CGST Rules 2017).

How long does the officer take to approve the amendment?
The proper officer must approve within fifteen working days from receiving REG-14 and issue an order in FORM GST REG-15 (rule 19(1), proviso (a), CGST Rules 2017). If no action is taken in that time, the certificate stands amended as applied (rule 19(5), CGST Rules 2017).

Can the new address take effect from the day we moved in?
Proviso (a) to rule 19(1) speaks of effect from the date of the event, but rule 19(1A) applies "notwithstanding" sub-rule (1): no particular stands amended from a date earlier than the REG-14 submission date, except by the Commissioner's order with written reasons (rule 19(1A), CGST Rules 2017). File without delay so the gap is small.

Does a Hyderabad branch need anything beyond GST?
Often yes. The Telangana Shops and Establishments Act 1988 requires registration of a new establishment within thirty days of it commencing work (s.3(1)(ii)). Professional tax applies to salaried staff there under the Telangana Tax on Professions, Trades, Callings and Employments Act 1987. The GST registration itself does not cover either.

---

Next steps on GST returns

See what applies to your company, then check it with a free tool.

GST returns and reconciliation →ITC Eligibility / Blocked Credit Checker Run free compliance health check