Can You Sell Online in India Without GST Registration
Almost every first-time founder in India asks the same question before launching: can I start selling online without a GST number? The honest answer is yes, but only in narrow cases, and the rules are different for a marketplace like Amazon or Meesho and for your own Shopify website. This guide explains the thresholds, the one rule that catches most new online sellers, what changed for marketplace sellers in October 2023, and how to set up a store safely either way.
Legal details are from the CGST Act, 2017 as published on the CBIC tax information portal, Notification No. 10/2019-Central Tax and Notification No. 34/2023-Central Tax on the GST Council website, the Shopify Help Centre and Razorpay's KYC documentation, all checked on 9 October 2026. This is general information, not tax advice. GST rules change and your situation may differ, so confirm with a chartered accountant before you decide.
Can you sell online in India without GST registration?
Yes, in two situations, and only for goods sold below the turnover threshold:
- Selling only within your own state. If your turnover is below the threshold and every customer you ship to is in the same state as your business, the CGST Act does not require you to register.
- Selling through a marketplace inside one state. Since 1 October 2023, small sellers of goods can sell through an e-commerce operator without registering, if they stay within one state and meet the conditions covered below.
The moment you ship goods to a customer in another state, registration becomes compulsory, whatever your turnover. That single rule is why most online sellers end up needing GST much earlier than they expected.
What is the GST registration threshold for online sellers?
Section 22 of the CGST Act says every supplier must register in the state "from where he makes a taxable supply of goods or services or both, if his aggregate turnover in a financial year exceeds twenty lakh rupees." For special category states the figure is ten lakh rupees.
For businesses that sell only goods, Notification No. 10/2019-Central Tax raised the exemption to forty lakh rupees from 1 April 2019. It covers "any person, who is engaged in exclusive supply of goods and whose aggregate turnover in the financial year does not exceed forty lakh rupees", with exceptions:
- Anyone who must register compulsorily under section 24, which includes inter-state sellers.
- Sellers of ice cream and other edible ice, pan masala, and tobacco products.
- Persons making intra-state supplies in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Puducherry, Sikkim, Telangana, Tripura and Uttarakhand, as listed in the 2019 notification.
| Your situation | Threshold before registration is required | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Goods only, selling within most states | Rs 40 lakh aggregate turnover | Notification 10/2019-CT |
| Goods, in a state excluded from the Rs 40 lakh limit | Rs 20 lakh, or Rs 10 lakh in special category states | Section 22(1) |
| Services, or goods and services together | Rs 20 lakh, or Rs 10 lakh in special category states | Section 22(1) |
| Any inter-state supply of goods | No threshold, registration is compulsory | Section 24(i) |
"Aggregate turnover" is calculated on your whole business under one PAN, not on the website alone. If you also sell at exhibitions or from a shop, that counts too. The state lists above have been amended over the years, so check your own state's current position with your CA.
Why does shipping to another state change everything?
Because section 24 overrides the threshold. It begins "Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1) of section 22" and then lists persons who must register regardless of turnover. The first item is "persons making any inter-State taxable supply".
For an online store this is the rule that matters most. A founder in Surat who ships one order to a customer in Mumbai has made a supply from Gujarat to Maharashtra. That is an inter-state supply, and for goods there is no small-seller relief from it. The 40 lakh exemption in Notification 10/2019 also excludes anyone required to register under section 24.
So the real question for a new D2C brand is rarely "how big am I?" It is "will I ship outside my state?" If the answer is yes, and for most brands selling online it is, you need a GSTIN before you start shipping.
Can you sell on Amazon, Flipkart or Meesho without GST?
Possibly, within one state, since October 2023. Section 24(ix) requires registration for persons supplying through an e-commerce operator that must collect tax at source under section 52, and that has historically meant every marketplace seller needed a GSTIN.
Notification No. 34/2023-Central Tax, dated 31 July 2023 and in force from 1 October 2023, created an exemption for persons supplying goods through such an operator whose turnover is within the section 22 threshold. The conditions, in the notification's own terms, are that they:
- Do not make any inter-state supply of goods.
- Do not supply goods through an e-commerce operator in more than one state or union territory.
- Have a PAN, and declare it on the common portal along with their place of business address and the state they will sell in, before making any supply.
- Have been granted an enrolment number on the portal after the PAN is validated, and hold no more than one enrolment number in a state.
- Make no supply through the operator until the enrolment number is granted.
Two practical points. First, the exemption is for goods only. Second, it works only if the marketplace supports onboarding sellers with an enrolment number instead of a GSTIN, so check the marketplace's own seller registration page. Note that Shopify's India GST guide still lists selling on online marketplaces among the situations that make registration mandatory. The 2023 notification is a narrow exception to that general rule, not a replacement for it.
Photo: seniorplanning via Flickr, CC BY 2.0
Does this exemption apply to your own Shopify website?
No. Notification 34/2023 is written for supplies "through an electronic commerce operator who is required to collect tax at source under section 52". When you sell from your own website, you are the seller making the supply directly to the customer, and no marketplace is collecting tax at source on your behalf. Your position is decided by section 22 and section 24 on their own.
That gives an own-website seller two realistic paths:
| Path | GST registration | What it means for the store |
|---|---|---|
| Sell goods only inside your own state, below the threshold | Not required | You must block orders from other states and you cannot charge GST |
| Sell across India | Required before the first inter-state shipment | Register, then set up GST in Shopify and issue proper tax invoices |
The first path suits a local food brand, a city-only delivery business, or a founder testing demand with friends and local buyers. For a brand that plans to run Instagram or Google ads across India, it only works if your ad targeting and delivery settings both stay inside your state.
Can you charge GST if you are not registered?
No. Section 32(1) of the CGST Act is direct: "A person who is not a registered person shall not collect in respect of any supply of goods or services or both any amount by way of tax under this Act."
In practice, if you are not registered, your Shopify store should not add GST at checkout, your invoices should not show a GST line or a GSTIN, and your prices should not say "inclusive of GST". If you are copying a product page template from a registered brand, remove those words. Once you register, our GST setup guide for Shopify covers how to configure tax collection correctly.
Can you get a payment gateway without a GSTIN?
Yes, with Razorpay at least, according to its current KYC documents page. The documents depend on the business type you choose:
- Individual or unregistered business. Proof of identity and address, usually fetched from CKYC, otherwise PAN and Aadhaar, passport or another photo ID, plus a bank account number and IFSC.
- Sole proprietorship. Two documents proving the business from a list that includes the MSME or Udyam certificate, GST certificate, Shop and Establishment certificate, Import Export Code and a postpaid mobile bill, plus the owner's PAN, address proof and bank details.
So a GST certificate is one option for a proprietorship, not the only one. Other gateways have their own document lists, so check each one before you apply. Our comparison of Razorpay and Cashfree on Shopify covers choosing between them.
When should a new D2C brand register anyway?
Often before it is strictly required. Section 25(3) allows voluntary registration: a person "though not liable to be registered under section 22 or section 24 may get himself registered voluntarily", and all the rules for registered persons then apply. Founders usually register early for one of these reasons:
- You want to sell across India from day one. Inter-state shipping requires it anyway.
- You plan to sell on marketplaces in more than one state. The 2023 exemption is limited to one state.
- Business buyers want a GST invoice. Corporate gifting, retailers and wholesale buyers usually ask for one so they can claim input tax credit.
- You want a cleaner launch. Changing your invoices, prices and checkout tax settings after launch is extra work at the moment you are busiest.
Registration also brings ongoing returns and compliance work, which is the real cost of registering early. That trade-off is worth a short conversation with a CA. If you are planning your first spend, our note on where your first two lakh should go covers how compliance fits alongside the store build.
What mistakes do new online sellers make with GST?
- Shipping "just one" order to another state. Section 24 does not have a small-order exception.
- Assuming the Rs 40 lakh limit applies everywhere. It is for goods only, it excludes certain states and products, and it never applies to inter-state sellers.
- Showing GST without a GSTIN. Section 32 prohibits it, even if the price stays the same.
- Forgetting the 30 day clock. Section 25(1) requires you to apply for registration within thirty days of becoming liable.
- Treating marketplace rules as website rules. The enrolment number route is for marketplace sales only. Your own Shopify store needs its own answer.
If you sell on marketplaces and your own site together, our guide to running Amazon and Flipkart alongside Shopify covers the operational side.
Launching a store and unsure how to set it up for GST?
Free launch setup review. Get in touch or email hello@exactwhy.com with the subject "GST Store Setup" and your store URL or launch plan. Tell us which state you sell from, whether you will ship across India, and which payment gateway you are applying for. We reply within 4 hours with what to change in your Shopify tax, checkout and invoice settings, and the questions to take to your CA.
If you go ahead. We set up your Shopify store for how you are registered: tax settings, invoice templates, delivery restrictions if you are selling in one state only, payment gateway onboarding pages and policies, and the switch to GST invoicing when you register. We do not file returns, so we work alongside your CA rather than replacing them.