Casual Taxable Person under GST

Casual Taxable Person under GST

If you are setting up a stall at a trade exhibition, pop-up sale, or seasonal event in a State where your business has no fixed office, you are likely a Casual Taxable Person (CTP) under GST. A CTP must register — regardless of turnover — at least five working days before the event starts, deposit an advance tax, and file returns during and after the registration period. Failing to follow this sequence means penalties and an inability to issue valid tax invoices from the venue.

Who Qualifies as a Casual Taxable Person Under GST?

The Legal Definition — Section 2(20), CGST Act 2017

Section 2(20) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 defines a Casual Taxable Person as:

> "A person who occasionally undertakes transactions involving supply of goods or services or both in the course or furtherance of business, whether as principal, agent or in any other capacity, in a State or a Union Territory where he has no fixed place of business."

Three elements must all be present simultaneously for CTP status to apply:

1. Occasional supply — not a regular, permanent business presence in that State
2. In the course of business — the activity is commercial, not personal
3. No fixed place of business in the State where the supply is made

The CGST Act does not define "occasionally" further, but departmental practice and GST Council clarifications treat it as event-driven, non-permanent activity. If your company already holds a GSTIN in the State where the event is held — because you have a branch, warehouse, or registered office there — you are a regular taxable person in that State, not a CTP. You simply use your existing GSTIN for those supplies.

Who Is a CTP — and Who Is Not

You are a CTP if you are:

• A Delhi-based jewellery exporter displaying and selling at a Mumbai jewellery exhibition for seven days
• A Bengaluru handicrafts seller at the Surajkund International Crafts Mela in Haryana for a fortnight
• A Chennai-based training firm conducting a paid two-day workshop in Pune, where it has no office or fixed presence
• A Jaipur textile manufacturer selling at a pop-up trade fair in Hyderabad

You are NOT a CTP if you are:

• A Mumbai company supplying at a Delhi exhibition, where the company already holds a Delhi GSTIN — use that GSTIN
• An individual making a one-off non-business personal sale — no GST implications at all
• A foreign company or individual visiting India to supply — they fall under the Non-Resident Taxable Person (NRTP) regime, covered in a separate section below

Why CTP Registration Is Mandatory — Section 24(ii), CGST Act

No Turnover Threshold, No Exemption

Under the regular GST framework, you register only when aggregate turnover crosses Rs. 40 lakh (goods, general category States) or Rs. 20 lakh (services or special category States). A CTP gets no such grace period. Section 24(ii) of the CGST Act explicitly overrides the threshold and mandates registration before you make even a single rupee of supply in the event State.

This catches many small sellers off guard. A potter selling Rs. 70,000 worth of handmade crockery at a craft fair in another State must still register as a CTP, deposit advance tax, and file returns — even though her total turnover is well below any registration threshold.

The Five-Working-Day Rule — Count Backward from Your Event Date

The GST law requires you to apply for CTP registration at least five working days before the date of commencement of business in the event State. This is not a soft guideline — it is a hard statutory requirement. The GST portal (gst.gov.in) will not process the application instantaneously; it goes through validation, advance tax deposit confirmation, and in some cases officer review.

How to count: If your exhibition opens on Monday, 8 June 2026, count five working days backward: Friday 30 May, Thursday 29 May, Wednesday 28 May, Tuesday 27 May, Monday 26 May. Your application, complete with advance tax deposit, must be submitted by 26 May 2026 at the absolute latest. Account for public holidays in your count — they are not working days.

Practical rule: Aim for 10–15 working days before the event, not five. Portal queries, document deficiencies, or bank processing delays for the advance payment can each add 1–2 days. Late applications simply go unprocessed, leaving you unable to issue valid GST invoices from the stall.

Supplying without a valid CTP GSTIN attracts penalties under Section 122 of the CGST Act: a minimum of Rs. 10,000 or the amount of tax evaded, whichever is higher — and a separate penalty for each day of violation is possible on scrutiny.

How to Register as a CTP: Step-by-Step on the GST Portal

CTP registration is filed through Form GST REG-01 — the same form used for all new GST registrations — with the "Casual Taxable Person" taxpayer type selected. There is no separate CTP-only form.

Step 1 — Initiate the application on gst.gov.in Go to Services → Registration → New Registration. If you already hold a GSTIN in your home State, log in using those credentials and apply for a new registration in the event State, selecting CTP as the registration type. Each event State requires a separate CTP GSTIN.

Step 2 — Fill in the required details

• Legal name as per PAN
• PAN of the proprietor, firm, LLP, or company
• Email and mobile for OTP verification
• Nature of taxable activity
• Proposed period of CTP registration — the from-date and to-date you need (subject to the 90-day cap)
• Estimated tax liability for the proposed period

Step 3 — Attach supporting documents

• PAN card of the entity
• Aadhaar of the authorised signatory
• Photograph of the authorised signatory
• Bank account details (cancelled cheque or bank statement)
• Stall allotment letter or event invitation (as evidence of a temporary place of business in the State)

Step 4 — Deposit advance tax (the registration gateway) After Part A submission, you receive a Temporary Reference Number (TRN). Use the TRN to access Part B and complete the advance tax payment through the GST payment gateway — net banking, NEFT/RTGS, or UPI. The advance deposit must be credited to the Electronic Cash Ledger (ECL) before the registration proceeds.

Step 5 — Receive your GSTIN Once the advance deposit is confirmed, the portal generates an Application Reference Number (ARN). The GST Registration Certificate in Form GST REG-06 is issued electronically. Your CTP GSTIN is active from the effective start date you specified.

Advance Tax Deposit Under Section 27 — Estimate It Right

Section 27(1) of the CGST Act mandates that a CTP must deposit an advance amount equal to the estimated tax liability for the entire registration period before the registration is granted. This deposit is not optional — the portal blocks approval until it is credited.

How to Calculate Your Advance Deposit

Advance deposit = Estimated value of taxable supplies × Applicable GST rate

Where you plan to sell multiple product categories at different tax rates, compute the tax for each category and sum them up. The deposit goes into your Electronic Cash Ledger (ECL). Your output tax during the event period is discharged by debiting this ECL balance. Any Input Tax Credit (ITC) you are eligible to claim reduces your net liability in the normal way. The unutilised ECL balance at the end of the validity period — advance paid minus tax actually paid — is refundable under Section 54 of the CGST Act.

Add a buffer of at least 15–20% to your best-case sales estimate. If actual liability exceeds the advance deposit, you must make an additional top-up deposit mid-event, which is operationally disruptive during a live fair.

Worked Example: A Bengaluru Handicrafts Seller at Surajkund Mela 2026

Scenario: Priya runs a proprietorship in Bengaluru (Karnataka GSTIN held) selling handloom textiles and décor. She is allotted a stall at the Surajkund International Crafts Mela, Haryana, from 1 February to 15 February 2026 (15 days). She has no office, warehouse, agent, or branch in Haryana.

CTP Classification: Priya qualifies as a CTP in Haryana. Her Karnataka GSTIN is irrelevant for the Haryana supplies. She must obtain a separate Haryana CTP GSTIN.

Registration Timeline: Event opens: 1 February 2026 (Sunday — a non-working day). The first working day is Monday 2 February, but the five-day count must precede commencement, not the portal's processing date. Counting five working days backward from Monday 2 February: Friday 30 January, Thursday 29 January, Wednesday 28 January, Tuesday 27 January, Monday 26 January. But 26 January is Republic Day (public holiday). Priya must therefore apply no later than Friday 23 January 2026. She targets 12 January 2026 to stay safe.

Advance Tax Estimation:

GST rates as per current rate schedules — verify against the applicable Notification before filing.

Priya deposits Rs. 68,000 before her registration is approved.

Actual Outcome: Actual sales during the Mela: Rs. 6,20,000. Actual GST liability computed from returns: Rs. 51,400. For buyers from Haryana, Priya charges CGST + Haryana SGST. For buyers who take goods to Rajasthan or Delhi, the place of supply shifts to those States — making those transactions inter-State supplies, where IGST applies instead. She correctly identifies each invoice's place of supply.

Post-Event Refund: Unutilised ECL balance = Rs. 68,000 − Rs. 51,400 = Rs. 16,600. After filing her final GSTR-3B, Priya applies for refund using Form RFD-01 on the GST portal (refund type: "Excess balance in Electronic Cash Ledger"). The department has 60 days to process; if it delays beyond 60 days, interest at 6% per annum is payable by the department under Section 54(12).

What if Priya had underestimated? Suppose actual sales reached Rs. 12,00,000 with a tax liability of Rs. 98,000. She would need to deposit an additional Rs. 30,000 (Rs. 98,000 − Rs. 68,000) mid-event, log back into the portal, make the payment, and update her records — all while running a busy stall. A 20% buffer on the initial estimate (i.e., depositing Rs. 81,600 instead of Rs. 68,000) would have avoided this entirely.

Validity of CTP Registration: 90 Days, Extensions, and Expiry

Original Validity — Section 27(1), CGST Act

Section 27(1) caps the CTP registration at 90 days from the effective date of registration. You specify the desired from-date and to-date in the application, within this cap. For most trade fairs and exhibitions — which run anywhere from 3 to 30 days — 90 days is well within range.

Extending Beyond 90 Days

The proviso to Section 27(1) allows the Commissioner to extend the CTP registration for a further period not exceeding 90 days, subject to:

1. Filing an extension application before the original registration expires
2. Paying additional advance tax for the extended period's estimated liability

Maximum total coverage as a CTP: 90 + 90 = 180 days in one event State. If your event genuinely runs longer than 180 days, or if you operate in the same State repeatedly throughout the year, the CTP route becomes inappropriate. Consider whether a regular GST registration in that State better reflects your business reality.

What Happens When the Registration Expires

Once the CTP GSTIN lapses:

• It becomes inactive immediately — you cannot issue valid GST invoices from that State
• All pending returns must be filed promptly
• Any accumulated ITC that is not utilised cannot be transferred to your home State GSTIN — it is refunded as part of the ECL balance
• If you want to supply in the same State again next season, you apply for a fresh CTP registration — there is no renewal mechanism

Returns a CTP Must File — Deadlines You Cannot Miss

GSTR-1: Outward Supplies Return

A CTP files GSTR-1 on a monthly basis. The QRMP (Quarterly Return Monthly Payment) scheme — available to regular taxpayers with turnover up to Rs. 5 crore — is not available to CTPs. You must always file GSTR-1 monthly, regardless of turnover.

• Due date: 11th of the month following the reporting month
• Example: GSTR-1 for February 2026 is due by 11 March 2026

In GSTR-1, report B2B invoices (with buyer GSTIN) in Table 4 and B2C supplies in Table 7. Critically, ensure the place of supply is correctly captured for every invoice — this determines whether CGST + SGST or IGST was rightly charged.

GSTR-3B: Summary Return and Tax Payment

• Due date: 20th of the month following the reporting month (as applicable to your category — confirm on the GST portal)
• Example: GSTR-3B for February 2026 is due by 20 March 2026
• Tax is discharged by debiting the Electronic Cash Ledger (advance deposit) or by making a fresh payment if the advance is exhausted

Even if your CTP registration has already expired before the due date, you are still obligated to file the return for the last active reporting period.

Annual Return (GSTR-9): Not Required

A CTP whose registration was active for less than a full financial year in the event State is not required to file GSTR-9 (the annual reconciliation return). Since most CTP registrations span days to weeks — never an entire April-to-March year — the annual return is effectively not applicable in practice. Confirm this position against any superseding CBIC notification current at the time of filing.

Refund of Unutilised Advance Tax — Form RFD-01

After your last GSTR-3B is filed and the registration expires, the net positive balance in the Electronic Cash Ledger is refundable. To claim it:

1. Log into the GST portal
2. Navigate to Refunds → Application for Refund
3. Select refund type: "Refund of excess balance in Electronic Cash Ledger"
4. File Form RFD-01 specifying the CTP GSTIN and the amount

Time limit: Two years from the date of expiry of the CTP registration. Missing this window forfeits your right to the refund. Since this balance is typically small — Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 50,000 for most small sellers — it is easy to overlook, but it is your money. Build RFD-01 filing into your post-event checklist as a non-negotiable step.

CTP vs Non-Resident Taxable Person (NRTP) — Which Applies to Your Situation?

This distinction matters most when you are advising foreign exhibitors at Indian trade shows or when Indian companies with a foreign principal participate in events.

A UK-based textile brand exhibiting at the India International Trade Fair (IITF) in Delhi is an NRTP — not a CTP. A Surat-based fabric manufacturer at the same event is a CTP. Applying the wrong regime means the wrong registration form, potentially wrong return type, and a compliance defect that surfaces only at scrutiny.

Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

1. Applying Too Late — The Five-Day Rule Bites Hard

Many exhibitors book stalls months in advance and then scramble for GST registration the day before the event. Late applications go unprocessed. You cannot issue a valid GST invoice without a live GSTIN, which means buyers lose ITC on their purchases from your stall — a commercial disadvantage that loses you B2B customers instantly.

Fix: The moment your stall allotment letter arrives, set an immediate calendar task to begin the CTP registration process. Aim for 15 working days before the event, not five.

2. Underestimating Advance Tax and Disrupting Live Operations

A seller who deposits Rs. 25,000 in advance but incurs Rs. 48,000 of GST liability midway through a ten-day fair must stop, log into the portal, make an additional deposit, and wait for it to reflect — all while managing a busy stall.

Fix: Estimate your best-case sales scenario, then deposit at 120% of the computed tax. The excess is fully refundable. The operational disruption of a mid-event top-up is far more costly than the minor inconvenience of filing RFD-01 later.

3. Getting the Place of Supply Wrong

A CTP registered in Haryana sells goods to a customer from Gujarat who takes the goods back to Gujarat. The place of supply is Gujarat — making this an inter-State supply where IGST applies, not CGST + Haryana SGST. Charging the wrong tax type means the buyer cannot claim ITC correctly, and the mismatched GSTR-2B creates downstream problems.

Fix: Train every person at your stall to ask for the buyer's State before raising an invoice. For B2B sales, always capture the buyer's GSTIN — the place of supply is then the recipient's State automatically.

4. Forgetting to File RFD-01 and Losing Your Own Money

After a busy exhibition, sellers return to their home base and move on. The advance tax balance sitting in the Haryana ECL is forgotten. Months pass. The two-year window starts counting down.

Fix: Build a three-step post-event checklist: (1) File all pending GSTR-1s, (2) File all pending GSTR-3Bs, (3) File RFD-01 within 30 days of the registration expiry. Do not leave this for later.

5. Using CTP as a Cover for a Regular Business Presence

If your company operates in a State through a deputed employee, maintains consignment stock, or visits monthly for repeat sales, the CTP classification is factually incorrect. The department can reclassify you as a regular taxable person — demanding registration from the date of first supply, plus interest on unpaid tax at 18% per annum, plus penalties under Section 122.

Fix: Assess your business model honestly before each event. If you supply in the same State more than twice in a financial year, or maintain any ongoing infrastructure there, take a regular GST registration in that State. The compliance cost of regular registration is far less than the penalty and interest exposure of a misclassified CTP.

6. Ignoring ITC on Local Event Purchases

A CTP can claim ITC on eligible input supplies purchased in the event State — for example, packing material, display fixtures, or printing services bought locally. However, this ITC can only offset the CTP registration's output tax liability; it cannot be transferred to your home State GSTIN. Failing to claim it wastes a legitimate credit.

Fix: Collect GST invoices for all business expenses incurred at or for the event, ensure they are captured in GSTR-3B for the relevant month, and let the credit reduce your net advance tax consumption before you file RFD-01.

Key Takeaways

• Registration is compulsory from the first rupee of supply in a State where you have no fixed place of business — Section 24(ii) overrides every turnover threshold without exception.
• Apply at least five working days before your event opens on gst.gov.in using Form GST REG-01 with the CTP type selected; building in a 10–15 working day buffer eliminates last-minute risk.
• Advance tax deposit is the gateway to registration — estimate your total GST liability for the period, add a 20% buffer, and deposit via the GST payment gateway before Part B of the registration is submitted.
• CTP GSTIN is valid up to 90 days from the effective date, extendable by a further 90 days on application with additional advance tax; after 180 days, re-registration is the only option.
• File GSTR-1 by the 11th and GSTR-3B by the 20th of the month following each reporting period; QRMP is not available to CTPs; GSTR-9 annual return is not required for registrations shorter than a full financial year.
• Claim your advance tax refund via Form RFD-01 within two years of registration expiry — the unutilised ECL balance is your money, and the process is straightforward once all returns are filed.
• Foreign exhibitors at Indian events are NRTPs, not CTPs — they need Form GST REG-09, a mandatory Indian authorised representative, and file GSTR-5, not GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B.

All references are to the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, and the CGST Rules, 2017, as applicable in FY 2026-27. GST rates cited in examples are indicative — verify against the rate schedules and Notifications in force at the time of your event before computing the advance deposit.