GST Registration and Returns in Telangana: A Practical Guide for Businesses

GST registration in Telangana follows the national GST law, but a few details are specific to the state: the registration limit, the state code on your GSTIN, and the department that administers your account. This guide covers what a business in Hyderabad, Warangal or anywhere else in Telangana needs to know to register and to file returns on time.

Do You Need GST Registration in Telangana?

You must register once your aggregate turnover crosses ₹20 lakh in a financial year. In Telangana that limit is the same whether you sell goods, services, or both. Most other states allow goods-only suppliers to wait until ₹40 lakh, but Telangana is one of the ten states and union territories that kept the lower ₹20 lakh limit for goods, so a goods trader in Hyderabad registers at the same point as a consultant or agency.

What counts as turnover

Aggregate turnover is the total value of all your supplies across India under one PAN, not per state or per shop. It includes:

Taxable sales
Exempt and nil-rated sales
Exports of goods or services
Supplies made from every state under the same PAN

It leaves out the GST you collect and any purchases on which you pay GST under reverse charge. A trader with ₹15 lakh of taxable sales and ₹8 lakh of exempt sales has aggregate turnover of ₹23 lakh, which is already above the Telangana limit.

When you must register at any turnover

Some businesses have to register from the first rupee, whatever their turnover:

Anyone making inter-state supplies of taxable goods. Small inter-state service providers below ₹20 lakh are exempt.
Casual taxable persons and non-resident taxable persons
Persons who must pay GST under reverse charge
Persons required to deduct TDS under GST
Agents supplying on behalf of another taxable person
E-commerce operators, and marketplace sellers who do not meet the small-seller conditions

Sellers on Amazon, Flipkart or Meesho are no longer always forced to register from day one. Since 1 October 2023, a small seller of goods who supplies only within one state, has a PAN, stays under the limit and completes the required enrolment on the GST portal can sell without a GSTIN. Selling across state lines or in more than one state makes registration compulsory.

The 30-day rule

Once you become liable, you must apply within 30 days of the date your turnover crossed ₹20 lakh. A Hyderabad shop owner who crosses the limit on 15 June should apply by 15 July. Tracking turnover every month, and starting the application when you reach around ₹17 lakh to ₹18 lakh, avoids a period in which you owe tax but cannot collect it.

Your GSTIN and who administers it

Every GSTIN issued in Telangana begins with the state code 36, followed by your PAN and a few more characters, 15 characters in all. GST in the state is administered jointly by the Centre and the state. Your application is allocated either to the Telangana Commercial Taxes Department, which organises its work into circles and divisions, or to central GST authorities under the Hyderabad or Medchal zones. Registration itself is always filed on the national GST portal at gst.gov.in, and there is no government fee.

How to Register for GST in Telangana

The whole application is online and free. Here is what you need and what to expect.

Documents to keep ready

What you upload depends on how your business is constituted. For most applicants:

PAN of the proprietor, partnership, LLP or company
Aadhaar of the authorised signatory, plus a passport-size photograph
Proof of your principal place of business: an electricity bill, property tax receipt or ownership document, or a rent agreement
Landlord's NOC, if the premises are rented
Constitution proof: a partnership deed, LLP agreement or certificate of incorporation, where relevant
Authorisation letter or board resolution for the person signing the application
Bank account details, which can be added within 30 days of registration
Digital Signature Certificate, mandatory for companies and LLPs

A home in Hyderabad or elsewhere in Telangana can be your principal place of business if you have a valid electricity bill or a rent agreement for it. Make sure the name and address on that proof match what you enter in the application, since mismatches are a common cause of queries and rejections. Any additional shop, godown or office in Telangana must be declared in the same application with its own address proof.

Step by step

Open the portal. Go to gst.gov.in, choose Services, then Registration, then New Registration.
Complete Part A. Enter your PAN, mobile number and email address, select Telangana as the state and your district, and verify the OTPs sent to your phone and email. You receive a Temporary Reference Number (TRN).
Complete Part B. Log in with the TRN and fill in your business details, promoters or partners, the authorised signatory, the principal and additional places of business, the goods or services you supply with their HSN or SAC codes, and bank details.
Upload documents and complete Aadhaar authentication for the authorised signatory and a promoter or partner.
Sign and submit with a Digital Signature Certificate (for companies and LLPs) or an Aadhaar OTP-based e-sign or EVC (for others).
Note your ARN. The Application Reference Number lets you track the application on the portal.
Answer any query. If the officer needs clarification, you get a notice in Form GST REG-03 and must reply in Form GST REG-04 within 7 working days.
Receive your certificate. On approval, Form GST REG-06 is issued with your 15-character GSTIN starting with 36.

How long it takes

About 3 working days under the simplified scheme, for low-risk applicants whose monthly business-to-business output tax stays at or below ₹2.5 lakh, with Aadhaar authentication completed
About 7 working days for most other applicants with Aadhaar authentication
Up to 30 working days if the application needs physical verification of your premises

Applicants who skip Aadhaar authentication, or whom the system flags as higher risk, are sent to a designated GST Suvidha Kendra for biometric verification and document checks. The Telangana Commercial Taxes Department lists its GST Suvidha Kendras on its website, tgct.gov.in. If you are asked to attend, complete it within 15 days, because the application does not move forward until you do.

Do not miss these after registration

Furnish your bank account details within 30 days of registration.
Display your GST registration certificate and GSTIN at your principal place of business and at every additional place.
Issue tax invoices carrying your GSTIN from the first day you are registered.
Start filing returns for your first period even if you had no sales, because a nil return is still a return.

Filing GST Returns in Telangana

Once you have a GSTIN, every return is filed online on the GST portal, and the same rules apply as in the rest of India. What is specific to Telangana is the quarterly due date for GSTR-3B, which falls on the 22nd because the state is in the earlier group.

The returns most businesses file

GSTR-1 reports your sales: invoices, credit and debit notes, and exports. It also feeds your customers' input tax credit, so a late GSTR-1 hurts them as well as you.
GSTR-3B is the summary of sales, input tax credit and tax payable, and it is where you actually pay the tax. Since the July 2025 period, its sales figures come from GSTR-1 and cannot be edited.
GSTR-9 is the annual return. It is mandatory above ₹2 crore of turnover and optional below that.
GSTR-9C reconciles the annual return with audited accounts and is required above ₹5 crore.

Composition taxpayers file CMP-08 every quarter and GSTR-4 once a year instead of GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B.

Monthly or quarterly?

Businesses with turnover above ₹5 crore must file monthly. Smaller businesses can choose the Quarterly Return, Monthly Payment (QRMP) scheme, which cuts return filings from 24 a year to 8. You still pay tax every month for the first two months of each quarter using a PMT-06 challan by the 25th of the following month, and the third month's tax is paid with the quarterly return.

The trade-off is that your invoices reach business customers' credit statements only when you file the quarterly GSTR-1. If most of your customers are GST-registered businesses, monthly filing, or the optional Invoice Furnishing Facility for the first two months, keeps their credit flowing on time.

Due dates for a Telangana business

Monthly filers:

GSTR-1 by the 11th of the next month
GSTR-3B by the 20th of the next month

Quarterly (QRMP) filers:

GSTR-1 by the 13th of the month after the quarter
Invoice Furnishing Facility (optional) by the 13th of the month after the first and second months
Monthly tax payment (PMT-06) by the 25th of the month after the first and second months
GSTR-3B by the 22nd of the month after the quarter, which is the date for Telangana

Composition taxpayers:

CMP-08 by the 18th of the month after the quarter
GSTR-4 by 30 April after the financial year

Annual returns:

GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C by 31 December after the financial year

For example, a monthly filer's September 2026 GSTR-1 is due on 11 October 2026 and GSTR-3B on 20 October. A quarterly filer in Hyderabad files the July to September 2026 GSTR-1 by 13 October and GSTR-3B by 22 October. The government sometimes extends dates at short notice, so check the live calendar on the GST portal before relying on any of these.

Two cut-offs that catch small businesses

30 November after the financial year is the last date to amend that year's invoices in GSTR-1 or claim that year's input tax credit. For FY 2025-26 that is 30 November 2026.
Three years after a return's original due date, the portal stops accepting it. Old pending returns cannot be cleared by filing later.

A routine that works

Reconcile your sales register against every invoice, credit note and debit note for the period.
File GSTR-1 first.
Download GSTR-2B and match it against your purchase register. Credit is largely limited to what appears there, so chase suppliers whose invoices are missing.
Check that your cash ledger has enough balance, then prepare GSTR-3B and pay the tax due.
File GSTR-3B and keep the acknowledgement.

GST has no facility to revise a filed return, so errors are corrected in a later period. That makes checking before you file more important than in income tax.

Other Registrations Businesses Usually Need in Telangana

GST rarely comes alone. Most Telangana businesses also handle these:

Professional Tax. Governed by the Telangana Tax on Professions, Trades, Callings and Employments Act, 1987, and administered by the Commercial Taxes Department. Employers need a registration certificate (PTRC) to deduct and remit tax from salaries, and business owners and professionals need an enrolment certificate (PTEC) for their own income. Telangana requires monthly deduction and payment, and slab rates should be checked on tgct.gov.in.
Shops and Establishment registration. Under the Telangana Shops and Establishments Act, 1988, commercial establishments in notified areas, including offices, IT and consulting businesses, must register and get a Business Establishment Certificate. Each physical location needs its own registration.
Udyam (MSME) registration. Optional, free and self-certified online. Small businesses often take it for easier access to loans and protection against delayed payments.

Banks often ask for the Shops and Establishment certificate and GST registration together when you open a current account, so it helps to arrange them in the same period.

What Late Filing Costs

Missing a due date brings two separate charges, starting the day after the due date.

Late fee for GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B: ₹50 a day, split equally between CGST and SGST. For a nil return it is ₹20 a day.
Caps per return: ₹500 for nil returns, ₹2,000 for turnover up to ₹1.5 crore, ₹5,000 for turnover between ₹1.5 crore and ₹5 crore, and ₹10,000 above ₹5 crore.
Interest: 18% a year on tax paid late, calculated on the net tax paid in cash. Where input tax credit was wrongly claimed and used, the rate is 24%.

A Hyderabad trader with turnover under ₹1.5 crore who owes ₹60,000 in cash tax and files 90 days late pays a late fee capped at ₹2,000 plus about ₹2,663 in interest, roughly ₹4,663 in total.

The damage goes beyond money. The portal blocks your next return until the missed one is filed, your customers cannot claim credit on your invoices, and if GSTR-3B goes unfiled for two consecutive periods your e-way bills are blocked, so goods cannot move. Not filing for six months can lead to a notice to cancel your registration.

Mistakes Telangana Businesses Commonly Make

Assuming the ₹40 lakh goods limit applies. In Telangana the limit for goods is ₹20 lakh, the same as for services. Traders who wait for ₹40 lakh end up registering late.
Mismatched address proof. The name or address on the electricity bill or rent agreement does not match the application, which triggers queries and delays.
Claiming credit that is not in GSTR-2B. This can be reversed with interest.
Filing GSTR-3B before GSTR-1. GSTR-3B takes its sales figures from GSTR-1, so file GSTR-1 first.
Skipping nil returns. A month with no sales still needs a return, and nil GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B can be filed by SMS.
Not checking the portal for notices. Automated notices for mismatches between GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B carry a 7-day response window, and ignoring one can lead to recovery without a separate show cause notice.

This guide is general information, not tax advice. Rates, limits and due dates change by notification, so confirm current figures on gst.gov.in or with a chartered accountant before you act.