Documents required for GST registration (2026 checklist)

Most GST applications that get rejected are not rejected on merit. They're rejected because a document didn't match — an address that reads slightly differently on the electricity bill than on the rent agreement, or a missing consent letter for a home office. The department doesn't call you to sort it out; it raises a clarification, and the clock restarts.

So the checklist below is worth reading properly before you file rather than after.

Every applicant needs these

• PAN card of the business or the proprietor
• Aadhaar card of the applicant, with a mobile number linked to it for OTP verification
• Passport-size photograph of the proprietor, partners or authorised signatory
• Proof of principal place of business
• Bank account proof — a cancelled cheque, or the first page of a passbook, or a bank statement

Proprietorship

The simplest case. PAN and Aadhaar of the proprietor, a photograph, address proof for the business premises, and bank proof. There is no separate entity PAN — the proprietor's PAN is the business PAN.

Partnership firm and LLP

In addition to the common documents, you need the partnership deed (or LLP agreement and incorporation certificate), PAN of the firm, and PAN, Aadhaar and photographs of all partners. You'll also need a letter of authorisation naming the authorised signatory.

Private limited company

Certificate of incorporation, company PAN, memorandum and articles of association, board resolution appointing the authorised signatory, and the PAN, Aadhaar and photograph of every director. A Class 3 digital signature certificate is mandatory for companies — applications can't be submitted with Aadhaar OTP alone.

Address proof — where most applications come unstuck

What counts depends on how you hold the premises.

• Own premises: latest electricity bill, municipal khata copy, or property tax receipt
• Rented premises: rent agreement plus a recent utility bill in the owner's name
• Home or family-owned premises: a consent letter (NOC) from the owner, their ownership proof, and a utility bill
• Co-working space: the agreement plus a signed NOC from the operator — this is the most commonly missed document of the lot

You don't need a shop or a rent agreement

This comes up constantly and the answer is reassuring: you can register from home. A consent letter from whoever owns the property, along with their ownership document and a utility bill, is accepted. It doesn't need to be notarised in most states.

What you cannot do is give an address you have no documentary connection to. Physical verification is real, and in states like Maharashtra it is common.

A note on quality

Scan documents properly rather than photographing them at an angle. The portal has file size and format limits, and an illegible upload is treated the same as a missing one. Names should match exactly across PAN, Aadhaar and bank records — a middle name present in one and absent in another is enough to trigger a query.