GST registration: Foreigners exempted from Aadhaar authentication

The government has exempted foreign persons and govern­ment entities from the compulsory requirement of Aadhaar-based authentication for the purpose of the goods and services tax (GST) registration. 

However, Indian citizens will have to follow the Aadhaar authentication or personal verification route for GST registration. 

Those exempted through a notification by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) now include person who is not a citizen of India, departments or establishments of central government or state governments, a local authority, a statutory body, a public sector undertaking. 

Abhishek Jain, partner at EY, said, “This notification provides the much-needed relief specially to MNCs having foreign directors, who are not required to obtain Aadhaar number and would not have been able to comply with the requirement.”