Mandatory registration for Non Resident

[Ethirajan Parthasarathy]

A non-resident is getting rent of 18 lacs PA from commercial property situate in India. He has not executed any power of attorney for managing the property.

Is he liable for mandatory registration under section 24 of GST Act or he can avail threshold limit 20 lacs exemption.  

If GST is applicable, I presume he has to charge CGST and SGST and not IGST

As per “CAGPT”, non-residents are hit by mandatory registration as per section 24 of CGST Act notwithstanding quantum of turnover.

AAR Karnataka has not discussed anything about mandatory registration by non-resident in the case of Nagbhushana Narayana 2023(4) TMI 903.  One of the arguments of the applicant is renting of commercial property by non-resident should be treated as “Import of Service.

I request experts to clarify..

AI Summary

Import of service for rent of Indian immovable property triggers IGST under reverse charge, potentially relieving non-resident registration.
Services related to immovable property located in India have their place of supply in India; where the supplier is located outside India and the recipient and place of supply are in India the transaction is an import of service attracting IGST. Notifications and the reverse charge mechanism place tax liability on the recipient, and, by application of the IGST/CGST registration linkage, a non-resident supplier receiving such rent may not be required to take GST registration if tax is payable by the recipient under reverse charge.