In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-
(1) "actionable claim" shall have the same meaning as assigned
to it in section 3 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882;
(2) "address of delivery" means the address of the recipient of
goods or services or both indicated on the tax invoice issued by
a registered person for delivery of such goods or services or
both;
(3) "address on record" means the address of the recipient as
available in the records of the supplier;
(4) "adjudicating authority" means any authority, appointed or
authorised to pass any order or decision under this Act, but
does not include the Central Board of Excise and Customs, the
Revisional Authority, the Authority for Advance Ruling, the
Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling, the Appellate Authority
and the Appellate Tribunal;
(5) "agent" means a person, including a factor, broker,
commission agent, arhatia, del credere agent, an auctioneer or
any other mercantile agent, by whatever name called, who carries
on the business of supply or receipt of goods or services or
both on behalf of another;
(6) "aggregate turnover" means the aggregate value of all
taxable supplies (excluding the value of inward supplies on
which tax is payable by a person on reverse charge basis),
exempt supplies, exports of goods or services or both and
inter-State supplies of persons having the same Permanent
Account Number, to be computed on all India basis but excludes
central tax, State tax, Union territory tax, integrated tax and
cess;
(7) "agriculturist" means an individual or a Hindu Undivided
Family who undertakes cultivation of land-
by own labour, or
by the labour of family, or
by servants on wages payable in cash or kind or by hired labour
under personal supervision or the personal supervision of any
member of the family;
(9) "Appellate Tribunal" means the Goods and Services Tax
Appellate Tribunal constituted under section 109;
(10) "appointed day" means the date on which the provisions of
this Act shall come into force;
(11) "assessment" means determination of tax liability under
this Act and includes self-assessment, re-assessment,
provisional assessment, summary assessment and best judgment
assessment;
(12) "associated enterprises" shall have the same meaning as
assigned to it in section 92A of the Income-tax Act, 1961;
(13) "audit" means the examination of records, returns and other
documents maintained or furnished by the registered person under
this Act or the rules made thereunder or under any other law for
the time being in force to verify the correctness of turnover
declared, taxes paid, refund claimed and input tax credit
availed, and to assess his compliance with the provisions of
this Act or the rules made thereunder;
(14) "authorised bank" shall mean a bank or a branch of a bank
authorised by the Government to collect the tax or any other
amount payable under this Act;
(15) "authorised representative" means the representative as
referred to in section 116;
(16) "Board" means the Central Board of Excise and Customs
constituted under the Central Boards of Revenue Act, 1963;
(17) "business" includes-
any trade, commerce, manufacture, profession, vocation,
adventure, wager or any other similar activity, whether or not
it is for a pecuniary benefit;
any activity or transaction in connection with or incidental or
ancillary to sub-clause (a);
any activity or transaction in the nature of sub-clause (a),
whether or not there is volume, frequency, continuity or
regularity of such transaction;
supply or acquisition of goods including capital goods and
services in connection with commencement or closure of business;
provision by a club, association, society, or any such body (for
a subscription or any other consideration) of the facilities or
benefits to its members;
admission, for a consideration, of persons to any premises;
services supplied by a person as the holder of an office which
has been accepted by him in the course or furtherance of his
trade, profession or vocation;
services provided by a race club by way of totalisator or a
licence to book maker in such club ; and
any activity or transaction undertaken by the Central
Government, a State Government or any local authority in which
they are engaged as public authorities;
(18) "business vertical" means a distinguishable component of an
enterprise that is engaged in the supply of individual goods or
services or a group of related goods or services which is
subject to risks and returns that are different from those of
the other business verticals.
Explanation.-For the purposes of this clause, factors that
should be considered in determining whether goods or services
are related include-
the nature of the goods or services;
the nature of the production processes;
the type or class of customers for the goods or services;
the methods used to distribute the goods or supply of services;
and
the nature of regulatory environment (wherever applicable),
including banking, insurance, or public utilities;
(19) "capital goods" means goods, the value of which is
capitalised in the books of account of the person claiming the
input tax credit and which are used or intended to be used in
the course or furtherance of business;
(20) "casual taxable person" means 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;
(21) "central tax" means the central goods and services tax
levied under section 9;
(22) "cess" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in the
Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Act;
(23) "chartered accountant" means a chartered accountant as
defined in clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the
Chartered Accountants Act, 1949;
(24) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of central tax and
includes the Principal Commissioner of central tax appointed
under section 3 and the Commissioner of integrated tax appointed
under the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act;
(25) "Commissioner in the Board" means the Commissioner referred
to in section 168;
(26) "common portal" means the common goods and services tax
electronic portal referred to in section 146;
(27) "common working days" in respect of a State or Union
territory shall mean such days in succession which are not
declared as gazetted holidays by the Central Government or the
concerned State or Union territory Government;
(28) "company secretary" means a company secretary as defined in
clause (c) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Company
Secretaries Act, 1980;
(29) "competent authority" means such authority as may be
notified by the Government;
(30) "composite supply" means a supply made by a taxable person
to a recipient consisting of two or more taxable supplies of
goods or services or both, or any combination thereof, which are
naturally bundled and supplied in conjunction with each other in
the ordinary course of business, one of which is a principal
supply;
Illustration.- Where goods are packed and transported with
insurance, the supply of goods, packing materials, transport and
insurance is a composite supply and supply of goods is a
principal supply;
(31) "consideration" in relation to the supply of goods or
services or both includes-
any payment made or to be made, whether in money or otherwise,
in respect of, in response to, or for the inducement of, the
supply of goods or services or both, whether by the recipient or
by any other person but shall not include any subsidy given by
the Central Government or a State Government;
the monetary value of any act or forbearance, in respect of, in
response to, or for the inducement of, the supply of goods or
services or both, whether by the recipient or by any other
person but shall not include any subsidy given by the Central
Government or a State Government:
Provided that a deposit given in respect of the supply of goods
or services or both shall not be considered as payment made for
such supply unless the supplier applies such deposit as
consideration for the said supply;
(32) "continuous supply of goods" means a supply of goods which
is provided, or agreed to be provided, continuously or on
recurrent basis, under a contract, whether or not by means of a
wire, cable, pipeline or other conduit, and for which the
supplier invoices the recipient on a regular or periodic basis
and includes supply of such goods as the Government may, subject
to such conditions, as it may, by notification, specify;
(33) "continuous supply of services" means a supply of services
which is provided, or agreed to be provided, continuously or on
recurrent basis, under a contract, for a period exceeding three
months with periodic payment obligations and includes supply of
such services as the Government may, subject to such conditions,
as it may, by notification, specify;
(34) "conveyance" includes a vessel, an aircraft and a vehicle;
(35) "cost accountant" means a cost accountant as defined in
clause (c) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Cost and Works
Accountants Act, 1959;
(36) "Council" means the Goods and Services Tax Council
established under article 279A of the Constitution;
(37) "credit note" means a document issued by a registered
person under sub-section (1) of section 34;
(38) "debit note" means a document issued by a registered person
under sub-section (3) of section 34;
(39) "deemed exports" means such supplies of goods as may be
notified under section 147;
(40) "designated authority" means such authority as may be
notified by the Board;
(41) "document" includes written or printed record of any sort
and electronic record as defined in clause (t) of section 2 of
the Information Technology Act, 2000;
(42) "drawback" in relation to any goods manufactured in India
and exported, means the rebate of duty, tax or cess chargeable
on any imported inputs or on any domestic inputs or input
services used in the manufacture of such goods;
(43) "electronic cash ledger" means the electronic cash ledger
referred to in subsection (1) of section 49;
(44) "electronic commerce" means the supply of goods or services
or both, including digital products over digital or electronic
network;
(45) "electronic commerce operator" means any person who owns,
operates or manages digital or electronic facility or platform
for electronic commerce;
(46) "electronic credit ledger" means the electronic credit
ledger referred to in sub-section (2) of section 49;
(47) "exempt supply" means supply of any goods or services or
both which attracts nil rate of tax or which may be wholly
exempt from tax under section 11, or under section 6 of the
Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, and includes non-taxable
supply;
(48) "existing law" means any law, notification, order, rule or
regulation relating to levy and collection of duty or tax on
goods or services or both passed or made before the commencement
of this Act by Parliament or any Authority or person having the
power to make such law, notification, order, rule or regulation;
(49) "family" means,-
(i) the spouse and children of the person, and
(ii) the parents, grand-parents, brothers and sisters of the
person if they are wholly or mainly dependent on the said
person;
(50) "fixed establishment" means a place (other than the
registered place of business) which is characterised by a
sufficient degree of permanence and suitable structure in terms
of human and technical resources to supply services, or to
receive and use services for its own needs;
(51) "Fund" means the Consumer Welfare Fund established under
section 57;
(52) "goods" means every kind of movable property other than
money and securities but includes actionable claim, growing
crops, grass and things attached to or forming part of the land
which are agreed to be severed before supply or under a contract
of supply;
(53) "Government" means the Central Government;
(54) "Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Act" means
the Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Act, 2017;
(55) "goods and services tax practitioner" means any person who
has been approved under section 48 to act as such practitioner;
(56) "India" means the territory of India as referred to in
article 1 of the Constitution, its territorial waters, seabed
and sub-soil underlying such waters, continental shelf,
exclusive economic zone or any other maritime zone as referred
to in the Territorial Waters, Continental Shelf, Exclusive
Economic Zone and other Maritime Zones Act, 1976, and the air
space above its territory and territorial waters;
(57) "Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act" means the
Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017;
(58) "integrated tax" means the integrated goods and services
tax levied under the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act;
(59) "input" means any goods other than capital goods used or
intended to be used by a supplier in the course or furtherance
of business;
(60) "input service" means any service used or intended to be
used by a supplier in the course or furtherance of business;
(61) "Input Service Distributor" means an office of the supplier
of goods or services or both which receives tax invoices issued
under section 31 towards the receipt of input services and
issues a prescribed document for the purposes of distributing
the credit of central tax, State tax, integrated tax or Union
territory tax paid on the said services to a supplier of taxable
goods or services or both having the same Permanent Account
Number as that of the said office;
(62) "input tax" in relation to a registered person, means the
central tax, State tax, integrated tax or Union territory tax
charged on any supply of goods or services or both made to him
and includes-
the integrated goods and services tax charged on import of
goods;
the tax payable under the provisions of sub-sections (3) and (4)
of section 9;
the tax payable under the provisions of sub-sections (3) and (4)
of section 5 of the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act;
the tax payable under the provisions of sub-sections (3) and (4)
of section 9 of the respective State Goods and Services Tax Act;
or
the tax payable under the provisions of sub-sections (3) and (4)
of section 7 of the Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Act,
but does not include the tax paid under the composition levy;
(63) "input tax credit" means the credit of input tax;
(64) "intra-State supply of goods" shall have the same meaning
as assigned to it in section 8 of the Integrated Goods and
Services Tax Act;
(65) "intra-State supply of services" shall have the same
meaning as assigned to it in section 8 of the Integrated Goods
and Services Tax Act;
(66) "invoice" or "tax invoice" means the tax invoice referred
to in section 31;
(67) "inward supply" in relation to a person, shall mean receipt
of goods or services or both whether by purchase, acquisition or
any other means with or without consideration;
(68) "job work" means any treatment or process undertaken by a
person on goods belonging to another registered person and the
expression "job worker" shall be construed accordingly;
(69) "local authority" means-
a "Panchayat" as defined in clause (d) of article 243 of the
Constitution;
a "Municipality" as defined in clause (e) of article 243P of the
Constitution;
a Municipal Committee, a Zilla Parishad, a District Board, and
any other authority legally entitled to, or entrusted by the
Central Government or any State Government with the control or
management of a municipal or local fund;
a Cantonment Board as defined in section 3 of the Cantonments
Act, 2006;
a Regional Council or a District Council constituted under the
Sixth Schedule to the Constitution;
a Development Board constituted under article 371 of the
Constitution;
or
a Regional Council constituted under article 371A of the
Constitution;
(70) "location of the recipient of services" means,-
where a supply is received at a place of business for which the
registration has been obtained, the location of such place of
business;
where a supply is received at a place other than the place of
business for which registration has been obtained (a fixed
establishment elsewhere), the location of such fixed
establishment;
where a supply is received at more than one establishment,
whether the place of business or fixed establishment, the
location of the establishment most directly concerned with the
receipt of the supply; and
in absence of such places, the location of the usual place of
residence of the recipient;
(71) "location of the supplier of services" means,-
where a supply is made from a place of business for which the
registration has been obtained, the location of such place of
business;
where a supply is made from a place other than the place of
business for which registration has been obtained (a fixed
establishment elsewhere), the location of such fixed
establishment;
where a supply is made from more than one establishment, whether
the place of business or fixed establishment, the location of
the establishment most directly concerned with the provisions of
the supply; and
in absence of such places, the location of the usual place of
residence of the supplier;
(72) "manufacture" means processing of raw material or inputs in
any manner that results in emergence of a new product having a
distinct name, character and use and the term "manufacturer"
shall be construed accordingly;
(73) "market value" shall mean the full amount which a recipient
of a supply is required to pay in order to obtain the goods or
services or both of like kind and quality at or about the same
time and at the same commercial level where the recipient and
the supplier are not related;
(74) "mixed supply" means two or more individual supplies of
goods or services, or any combination thereof, made in
conjunction with each other by a taxable person for a single
price where such supply does not constitute a composite supply.
Illustration.- A supply of a package consisting of canned foods,
sweets, chocolates, cakes, dry fruits, aerated drinks and fruit
juices when supplied for a single price is a mixed supply. Each
of these items can be supplied separately and is not dependent
on any other. It shall not be a mixed supply if these items are
supplied separately;
(75) "money" means the Indian legal tender or any foreign
currency, cheque, promissory note, bill of exchange, letter of
credit, draft, pay order, traveller cheque, money order, postal
or electronic remittance or any other instrument recognised by
the Reserve Bank of India when used as a consideration to settle
an obligation or exchange with Indian legal tender of another
denomination but shall not include any currency that is held for
its numismatic value;
(76) "motor vehicle" shall have the same meaning as assigned to
it in clause (28) of section 2 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988;
(77) "non-resident taxable person" means any person who
occasionally undertakes transactions involving supply of goods
or services or both, whether as principal or agent or in any
other capacity, but who has no fixed place of business or
residence in India;
(78) "non-taxable supply" means a supply of goods or services or
both which is not leviable to tax under this Act or under the
Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act;
(79) "non-taxable territory" means the territory which is
outside the taxable territory;
(80) "notification" means a notification published in the
Official Gazette and the expressions "notify" and "notified"
shall be construed accordingly;
(81) "other territory" includes territories other than those
comprising in a State and those referred to in sub-clauses (a)
to (e) of clause (114) ;
(82) "output tax" in relation to a taxable person, means the tax
chargeable under this Act on taxable supply of goods or services
or both made by him or by his agent but excludes tax payable by
him on reverse charge basis;
(83) "outward supply" in relation to a taxable person, means
supply of goods or services or both, whether by sale, transfer,
barter, exchange, licence, rental, lease or disposal or any
other mode, made or agreed to be made by such person in the
course or furtherance of business;
(84) "person" includes-
an individual;
a Hindu Undivided Family;
a company;
a firm;
a Limited Liability Partnership;
an association of persons or a body of individuals, whether
incorporated or not, in India or outside India;
any corporation established by or under any Central Act, State
Act or Provincial Act or a Government company as defined in
clause (45) of section 2 of the Companies Act, 2013;
any body corporate incorporated by or under the laws of a
country outside India;
) a co-operative society registered under any law relating to
co-operative societies;
a local authority;
Central Government or a State Government;
society as defined under the Societies Registration Act, 1860;
trust; and
every artificial juridical person, not falling within any of the
above;
(85) "place of business" includes-
a place from where the business is ordinarily carried on, and
includes a warehouse, a godown or any other place where a
taxable person stores his goods, supplies or receives goods or
services or both; or
a place where a taxable person maintains his books of account;
or
a place where a taxable person is engaged in business through an
agent, by whatever name called;
"place of supply" means the place of supply as referred to in
Chapter V of the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act;
"prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act on
the recommendations of the Council;
"principal" means a person on whose behalf an agent carries on
the business of supply or receipt of goods or services or both;
"principal place of business" means the place of business
specified as the principal place of business in the certificate
of registration;
"principal supply" means the supply of goods or services which
constitutes the predominant element of a composite supply and to
which any other supply forming part of that composite supply is
ancillary;
"proper officer" in relation to any function to be performed
under this Act, means the Commissioner or the officer of the
central tax who is assigned that function by the Commissioner in
the Board;
"quarter" shall mean a period comprising three consecutive
calendar months, ending on the last day of March, June,
September and December of a calendar year;
"recipient" of supply of goods or services or both, means-
where a consideration is payable for the supply of goods or
services or both, the person who is liable to pay that
consideration;
where no consideration is payable for the supply of goods, the
person to whom the goods are delivered or made available, or to
whom possession or use of the goods is given or made available;
and
where no consideration is payable for the supply of a service,
the person to whom the service is rendered,
and any reference to a person to whom a supply is made shall be
construed as a reference to the recipient of the supply and
shall include an agent acting as such on behalf of the recipient
in relation to the goods or services or both supplied;
(94) "registered person" means a person who is registered under
section 25 but does not include a person having a Unique
Identity Number;
(95) "regulations" means the regulations made by the Board under
this Act on the recommendations of the Council;
(96) "removal'' in relation to goods, means-
despatch of the goods for delivery by the supplier thereof or by
any other person acting on behalf of such supplier; or
collection of the goods by the recipient thereof or by any other
person acting on behalf of such recipient;
(97) "return" means any return prescribed or otherwise required
to be furnished by or under this Act or the rules made
thereunder;
(98) "reverse charge" means the liability to pay tax by the
recipient of supply of goods or services or both instead of the
supplier of such goods or services or both under sub-section (3)
or sub-section (4) of section 9, or under sub-section (3) or
subsection (4) of section 5 of the Integrated Goods and Services
Tax Act;
(99) "Revisional Authority" means an authority appointed or
authorised for revision of decision or orders as referred to in
section 108;
(100) "Schedule" means a Schedule appended to this Act;
(101) "securities" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it
in clause (h) of section 2 of the Securities Contracts
(Regulation) Act, 1956;
(102) "services" means anything other than goods, money and
securities but includes activities relating to the use of money
or its conversion by cash or by any other mode, from one form,
currency or denomination, to another form, currency or
denomination for which a separate consideration is charged;
(103) "State" includes a Union territory with Legislature;
(104) "State tax" means the tax levied under any State Goods and
Services Tax Act;
(105) "supplier" in relation to any goods or services or both,
shall mean the person supplying the said goods or services or
both and shall include an agent acting as such on behalf of such
supplier in relation to the goods or services or both supplied;
(106) "tax period" means the period for which the return is
required to be furnished;
(107) "taxable person" means a person who is registered or
liable to be registered under section 22 or section 24;
(108) "taxable supply" means a supply of goods or services or
both which is leviable to tax under this Act;
(109) "taxable territory" means the territory to which the
provisions of this Act apply;
(110) "telecommunication service" means service of any
description (including electronic mail, voice mail, data
services, audio text services, video text services, radio paging
and cellular mobile telephone services) which is made available
to users by means of any transmission or reception of signs,
signals, writing, images and sounds or intelligence of any
nature, by wire, radio, visual or other electromagnetic means;
(111) "the State Goods and Services Tax Act" means the
respective State Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017;
(112) "turnover in State" or "turnover in Union territory" means
the aggregate value of all taxable supplies (excluding the value
of inward supplies on which tax is payable by a person on
reverse charge basis) and exempt supplies made within a State or
Union territory by a taxable person, exports of goods or
services or both and inter-State supplies of goods or services
or both made from the State or Union territory by the said
taxable person but excludes central tax, State tax, Union
territory tax, integrated tax and cess;
(113) "usual place of residence" means-
in case of an individual, the place where he ordinarily resides;
in other cases, the place where the person is incorporated or
otherwise legally constituted;
(114) "Union territory" means the territory of-
the Andaman and Nicobar Islands;
Lakshadweep;
Dadra and Nagar Haveli;
Daman and Diu;
Chandigarh; and
other territory.
Explanation.-For the purposes of this Act, each of the
territories specified in sub-clauses (a) to (f) shall be
considered to be a separate Union territory;
(115) "Union territory tax" means the Union territory goods and
services tax levied under the Union Territory Goods and Services
Tax Act;
(116) "Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Act" means the
Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017;
(117) "valid return" means a return furnished under sub-section
(1) of section 39 on which self-assessed tax has been paid in
full;
(118) "voucher" means an instrument where there is an obligation
to accept it as consideration or part consideration for a supply
of goods or services or both and where the goods or services or
both to be supplied or the identities of their potential
suppliers are either indicated on the instrument itself or in
related documentation, including the terms and conditions of use
of such instrument;
(119) "works contract" means a contract for building,
construction, fabrication, completion, erection, installation,
fitting out, improvement, modification, repair, maintenance,
renovation, alteration or commissioning of any immovable
property wherein transfer of property in goods (whether as goods
or in some other form) is involved in the execution of such
contract;
(120) words and expressions used and not defined in this Act but
defined in the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, the Union
Territory Goods and Services Tax Act and the Goods and Services
Tax (Compensation to States) Act shall have the same meaning as
assigned to them in those Acts;
(121) any reference in this Act to a law which is not in force
in the State of Jammu and Kashmir, shall, in relation to that
State be construed as a reference to the corresponding law, if
any, in force in that State.
3%, 5%, 18% GST items 26.7.2018
18% GST notification 10.11.2017
0%, 5%, 12% reduced on 10.11.17
IGST Rates reduced on 10.11.2017
3% & 0.25% GST Goods (Original)
18% GST Materials (Original List)
Compensation Cess Rates (Original)