Notices · GST

GST REG-17 reply format: how to stop your registration being cancelled

The officer proposes to cancel your GST registration, and may already have suspended it. You have seven working days to reply in Form REG-18.

Quick Statutory Answer

A GST REG-17 is a show cause notice proposing to cancel your GST registration under section 29(2) of the CGST Act — most often for returns not filed. Reply in Form REG-18 within seven working days of its service (Rules 22(1) and 22(2)). If the notice is for non-filing and you file every pending return with tax, interest and late fee, the officer is to drop the proceedings in Form REG-20.

Upload your notice to Notice Desk — free Every notice

At a glance

What For this notice
Sent by The GST proper officer, proposing to cancel your registration
Under Section 29(2), CGST Act 2017; Rules 21A and 22, CGST Rules
Reply in Form GST REG-18, on the GST portal
Deadline 7 working days from the date the notice is served
If ignored Cancellation by order in Form REG-19

GST REG-17 reply format

A fill-in format: replace every [bracket] with your own facts and delete what does not apply. Copy it, or download it in Word, free.

From

[Legal name of the business] GSTIN: [GSTIN] [Principal place of business]

Date: [DD/MM/YYYY]

To

The Proper Officer [Designation, e.g. State Tax Officer / Superintendent], [Ward / Circle / Range] [Office address]

Subject: Reply in Form GST REG-18 to the show cause notice in Form GST REG-17, Reference No. [reference number] dated [date], proposing cancellation of registration

Respected Sir/Madam,

1. We refer to the above notice proposing cancellation of our registration on the ground that [quote the ground stated in the notice]. This reply is filed within seven working days of its service.

Our reply to the ground

2. [Where the ground is returns not filed:] Since the notice, we have filed all pending returns and paid the tax with interest and late fee, as below: [Return] for [period] — ARN [ARN] dated [date] [Return] for [period] — ARN [ARN] dated [date] [Where the ground is the place of business:] We continue to carry on business from our principal place of business at [address]. Proof is enclosed.

3. [Reason for the default, if any — for example, change of accountant, illness, a portal difficulty — briefly.] The business is continuing and we intend to comply fully.

Prayer

4. As all pending returns have been filed and dues paid, we request that the proceedings be dropped by an order in Form GST REG-20 and the suspension of registration, if any, be revoked.

Enclosures

Acknowledgements of returns filed, and payment challans [Proof of the principal place of business, if that is the ground]

Thanking you, For [Legal name of the business] [Name of authorised signatory] [Designation] Place: [Place]

Why you may have received it

  • Returns not filed for the continuous period section 29(2) sets — the most common reason by far.
  • The business was found not to be operating from its declared principal place of business.
  • The registration is said to have been obtained by fraud, wilful misstatement or suppression of facts.
  • A contravention of the Act or the Rules, such as input tax credit claimed in breach of the rules.

How to reply, step by step

  • Check whether your registration has also been suspended. Under Rule 21A a suspension can run from the date of the notice, and while it lasts you must not issue tax invoices or charge tax.
  • If the ground is non-filing, file every pending return straight away and pay the tax, interest and late fee they show.
  • File Form REG-18 within seven working days, answering the ground in the notice and listing the returns filed and payments made.
  • If the ground is the place of business, attach proof that you operate there: rent agreement or ownership proof, a recent utility bill, and photographs of the premises and signboard.
  • Track the outcome. REG-20 drops the proceedings; REG-19 cancels the registration.

What to attach

  • Acknowledgments for every return filed after the notice, and the payment challans.
  • Proof of the principal place of business, where that is the ground.
  • Any correspondence that explains why returns were late — a portal problem, an illness, a change of accountant.

If you do not reply

  • The registration can be cancelled by order in Form REG-19. Without it you cannot collect GST or pass on input tax credit, and customers registered under GST will stop buying from you.
  • Section 29(5) requires you to pay back the input tax credit on stock and capital goods held when the registration is cancelled, or the output tax on them if that is higher.
  • You then have to apply for revocation in Form REG-21 — within 90 days of the cancellation order, which the rules allow to be extended on sufficient cause — or register afresh.

How to structure the reply

  • Reference: GSTIN, legal name, the REG-17 reference and date.
  • The ground stated in the notice, quoted.
  • Your answer to it: returns filed with dates and ARNs, tax and late fee paid, or proof of operation from the declared place.
  • Why cancellation is not warranted now, and that the business is continuing.
  • A request to drop the proceedings in Form REG-20 and to lift any suspension.

Common questions

How many days do I have to reply to REG-17?

Seven working days from the date the notice is served, under Rule 22(1) of the CGST Rules; the reply is filed in Form REG-18 on the GST portal (Rule 22(2)). A notice on the portal is served the day it is issued there.

Will filing my pending returns stop the cancellation?

Where the notice was issued for not filing returns, the proviso to Rule 22(4) requires the officer to drop the proceedings in Form REG-20 once you file all pending returns and pay the tax with interest and late fee.

Can I trade while the REG-17 is pending?

Not as a registered person if the registration has been suspended. Under Rule 21A(3) you must not make any taxable supply during the suspension, which the rule explains as not issuing tax invoices and not charging tax. Check the notice and the portal for a suspension order.

My registration is already cancelled. What now?

Apply for revocation in Form REG-21 within 90 days of the cancellation order, which can be extended on sufficient cause, after filing the pending returns. Past that window, the route is a fresh registration or an appeal.

Other notices

Before you rely on this

An explanation of the rules, not advice on your notice. The date printed on your notice governs, and a demand of any size deserves a CA or an advocate before you reply.