GST on Domain Registration in India, Explained

Domain registration is a service, and in India services of this kind attract GST at 18%. Every price on this site includes it, which is why our figures end in numbers like ₹499 and ₹1,199 rather than rounder ones.

This is general information for Indian business buyers, not tax advice. Your accountant knows your situation; we do not.

Why 18%?

Domain registration falls under online information and database access or retrieval services — the same classification as web hosting and most digital subscriptions. The rate has been 18% since GST came in.

Some overseas registrars do not charge Indian GST because they are not registered in India. That is not a saving. Where the supplier is outside India, the liability can shift to you as the recipient under reverse charge, and you get no clean input credit against a foreign invoice. Buying from an Indian supplier who issues a proper tax invoice is simpler and usually cheaper once the paperwork is counted.

What your invoice must show

A valid tax invoice needs, at minimum:

• The supplier's name, address and GSTIN
• A unique sequential invoice number and date
• Your name and your GSTIN, if you have one
• A description of the service — the domain and the term
• Taxable value, the GST rate, and the CGST/SGST or IGST split shown separately
• Total amount payable

If any of these are missing, your accountant may not be able to claim the credit — and chasing a corrected invoice from a large registrar months later is exactly as unpleasant as it sounds.

CGST + SGST, or IGST?

It depends on where you and the supplier are.

• Same state — CGST 9% + SGST 9%. We are in Tamil Nadu, so a Tamil Nadu customer sees this split.
• Different states — IGST 18% as a single line.

The total is 18% either way; only the presentation changes. Your accounting software cares about the split, which is why it must be shown correctly.

Claiming input credit

If you are GST-registered and the domain is used for business, you can generally claim the 18% as input tax credit. Three conditions in practice:

1. You hold a valid tax invoice carrying your GSTIN
2. The supplier has actually filed the invoice, so it appears in your GSTR-2B
3. The expense is for business, not personal, use

That second point is the one that catches people. A credit only becomes claimable once the supplier files it. If a registrar is casual about GST filing, your credit is stuck regardless of how good the invoice looks.

Enter your GSTIN at checkout

This is the single practical step. If you have a GSTIN, put it in at the time of purchase. It is printed on the invoice automatically and the credit flows without anybody chasing anybody.

Adding it afterwards means a credit note and a fresh invoice — possible, but it is work, and if it crosses a filing period it is more work than it sounds.

No GSTIN?

Then you simply pay the GST-inclusive price and cannot claim credit — the same as any consumer purchase. The price you see is the price you pay; there is nothing further to do.

What about renewals?

Identical treatment. Every renewal generates a fresh tax invoice with GST, which you claim in the period it falls. Multi-year registrations are invoiced once for the full term, which some businesses prefer for exactly that reason.

Questions about your invoice? Email info@avancezone.com — we would rather fix it now than have your accountant find it in October.