How to search for a temporary ID on the GST portal

If a person undertakes transactions occasionally that involve the supply of goods or services or both in any state or Union Territory where such person doesn’t have a fixed operating address.

Who should apply for a temporary ID under GST?

Any individual, who isn’t registered or isn’t liable to get registered under the GST regime, needs to apply for a temporary user ID on the GST portal. A GST registration of such a person is mandatory irrespective of its annual aggregate sale turnover.

This temporary user ID is only to facilitate certain exclusive functionalities available to an unregistered individual on the GST portal.

Steps to apply for temporary ID under GST (with screenshots)

For applying for a temporary user ID, an unregistered user has to perform the steps mentioned below: 

Step 1. Go to the web browser and open the URL www.gst.gov.in. As the web portal opens, the GST home page is displayed.

Step 2. The user then needs to click Services > User Services > Generate User ID as shown in the image below.

Step 3. The user then needs to go through the warning message and click ‘Yes’ as highlighted in red in the image below.

Step 4. Once the user clicks the ‘Yes’ button, the new registration for the unregistered applicant page appears.

Step 5. The user then needs to select whether such user is a resident or a non-resident.

Step 6. The user then needs to feed the details on this page which include

·   State or Union Territories for which user ID is required

·   Applicant’s legal name

·   Trade name

·   Constitution of business

·   Applicant’s PAN

·   Details of authorised signatory

·   Address of the applicant

It is important to note the followings:

·   For a non-resident user, PAN isn’t mandatory.

·   Also, for a non-resident user, the district field is optional.

·   The user could click the ‘ADD’ button to add an authorised signatory to a maximum of 2.

Step 7. Once the user has filled in the details, the user needs to enter the captcha text as provided and click the ‘Proceed’ button.

Step 8. The user would receive Email OTP over the e-mail address provided in the new registration for unregistered applicant page. The user has to enter the email OTP in the ‘Verify OTP’ page as shown in the image below and then click ‘Proceed’.

Step 9. After successfully entering the OTP, the user would get a prompt as below that success that temporary user ID has been successfully created for the user and such details will be communicated on the user’s registered e-mail ID. 

Step 10. Once the temporary user ID is successfully created, the user would receive on the registered e-mail ID a temporary user ID and password for logging in to the GST portal.

Step 11. The user could also edit the profile details after logging into the GST portal. The user needs to navigate to the ‘Edit Profile’ button on the dashboard for editing and update the details about the address of the user and authorised signatory details as shown in the image below.

Step 12. The user needs to click the ‘Edit’ icon as highlighted in the image below to edit the details and click the ‘Update’ button once the user has edited all the required details.

Step 13. The user then needs to go through the warning message and click ‘Yes’ as highlighted in red in the image below.

Step 14. On clicking the ‘Proceed’ button, a success message is displayed that the user’s profile has been successfully updated. Once the profile of the user is updated, a communication on the registered email ID of the user will be sent.

FAQs on Temporary ID under GST

Can a non-resident person apply for a temporary user ID?

Yes, a non-resident person could apply for a temporary user ID on the GST portal.

Does a non-resident person need to provide the PAN details while applying for a temporary user ID?

No, a non-resident person isn’t mandatorily required to provide PAN details while applying for a temporary user ID.

Does a user need to provide supporting documents at the time of applying for a temporary user ID?

No, a user doesn’t have to provide any supporting documents at the time of applying for a temporary user ID.

What activities on the GST portal unregistered applicant could perform after creating a temporary user ID?

Unregistered applicants could perform various activities after creating a temporary user ID on the GST portal such as:

·   Track Application Status

·   View Ledgers

·   Create Challan·   Search taxpayer, etc.