Documents Required for GST Registration: 2026 Checklist

The documents required for GST registration depend on two things: the constitution of the business (proprietor, partnership, LLP, company and so on) and whether the place of business is owned, rented or borrowed. The form itself, GST REG-01, is the same for everyone. What changes is the set of uploads in Part B. This checklist covers each case, the file limits the portal enforces, and the mismatches that most often turn a clean application into a query.

Documents every applicant needs

Whatever the business, the application draws on the same core set:

• PAN of the applicant. For a proprietorship this is the proprietor's personal PAN, because a proprietorship has no PAN of its own. For every other constitution it is the entity's PAN. The name typed in Part A must match the PAN exactly, or the application stops at the first step.
• Aadhaar of the promoters or partners and of the primary authorised signatory. Opting for Aadhaar authentication decides whether the application goes to a biometric check at a GST Suvidha Kendra. The Aadhaar authentication guide explains both routes.
• Photograph of each promoter, partner or director, and of the authorised signatory.
• Proof of the principal place of business, and of each additional place if you declare any.
• Mobile number and email address of the primary authorised signatory. These receive the OTPs and every notice for the life of the registration, so they should belong to someone who will still be with the business next year.

Documents by type of business

The constitution adds a proof-of-constitution document and decides whose details are needed. The table below is the practical list; the online registration walkthrough shows where each item is entered.

The details of every partner or director go into the "Promoters / Partners" tab. You do not need to list every shareholder of a company, only the directors. For a partnership, a firm with more than a handful of partners still enters each one, which is why getting the photographs and Aadhaar numbers together before you start saves a second sitting.

Proof of the place of business

Address proof is where most applications come back. The portal asks for one document, but what counts as sufficient depends on how you occupy the premises.

The consent letter has no prescribed format, but it has to identify the premises, the owner and the business, and be signed by the owner. A format you can adapt is in our NOC for GST registration guide. Whichever document you upload, the address on it must match the address typed into the form, down to the floor and the unit number. The officer compares the two, and a mismatch is the single most common trigger for a REG-03 query.

Authorised signatory and signing the application

Every registration names a primary authorised signatory, the person who signs the application and later the returns. A proprietor can be their own signatory. For any other constitution the signatory needs written authority:

• Company — a board resolution appointing the signatory.
• Partnership or LLP — a letter of authorisation signed by the partners.
• Trust, society, HUF — a letter of authorisation from the trustees, members or karta.

Companies and LLPs must sign the application with a Class 3 digital signature certificate registered on the portal. Other applicants can sign with an EVC, an OTP sent to the signatory's Aadhaar-linked mobile. If a DSC is needed and you do not yet have one, arrange it before starting, since the application reference number is generated only after signing.

Bank account details: now after registration

Bank details used to be a mandatory part of the application. Under Rule 10A they are now furnished after the registration is granted, within 30 days, or before you file your first GSTR-1 or use the invoice furnishing facility, whichever comes first. The account must be in the name of the business (or, for a proprietorship, the proprietor), and the portal validates it. The proof is a cancelled cheque, the first page of the passbook, or a bank statement showing the name, account number and IFSC.

Skipping this step has a real consequence. A registration without bank details inside the window can be suspended, and a suspended GSTIN shows up that way to every buyer who checks it. The suspended status guide covers what that does to your customers' input tax credit.

File formats and size limits

• Supporting documents — PDF or JPEG, up to 1 MB each.
• Photographs — JPEG, up to 100 KB.
• One upload per document field. If the rent agreement runs to several pages, merge them into one PDF rather than uploading page one alone.
• Scan in colour at a resolution that stays legible after compression. Text an officer cannot read is treated as a missing document.

Documents that get applications rejected

The full list of reasons is in the rejection reasons guide. The document-related ones are predictable:

• Name mismatch between PAN, Aadhaar and the name typed into the form, often a missing middle name or a different spelling.
• Address mismatch between the upload and the form.
• An expired rent agreement, or one that names a different tenant.
• Electricity bill in someone else's name with no consent letter to explain why.
• An unreadable or partial scan, such as page one of a ten-page deed.
• A photograph that is not a photograph — a cropped Aadhaar image, or a group shot.

Frequently asked questions