I
CGST Act · Chapter I
Preliminary
2 sections authoredCGST Act, 2017
s. 1Short Title Extent Commencement
Section 1 names the CGST Act, extends it to the whole of India and lets the Central Government bring it into force provision by provision. That power was used in three main stages: registration and administration first, the levy on the appointed day, and tax deduction and collection at source more than a year later.
- The Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (Act No. 12 of 2017) extends to the whole of India; the exclusion of Jammu and Kashmir was omitted with effect from 08.07.2017.
- Sections 1 to 5, 10, 22 to 30, 139, 146 and 164 of the CGST Act came into force on 22.06.2017 (Notification 1/2017-Central Tax dated 19.06.2017).
- Most of the remaining provisions came into force on 01.07.2017 (Notification 9/2017-Central Tax dated 28.06.2017); sections 51 (TDS) and 52 (TCS) came into force on 01.10.2018.
- Under the proviso to section 1(3), a reference to "the commencement of this Act" in a provision means the date that provision came into force.
s. 2Definitions
Section 2 defines the words on which every GST dispute turns. Most are short cross-references; a handful — business, goods, services, consideration, composite supply, aggregate turnover, recipient, supplier, works contract — decide whether tax is payable, by whom and at what rate. Words used but not defined here take their meaning from the IGST, UTGST and Compensation Acts (clause (120)).
- "Aggregate turnover" under section 2(6) of the CGST Act, 2017 is computed on an all-India basis for all persons with the same PAN and includes taxable and exempt supplies, exports and inter-State supplies, but excludes the taxes themselves and inward supplies taxed on reverse charge.
- "Goods" under section 2(52) include actionable claims; in Skill Lotto Solutions v Union of India (2020) the Supreme Court upheld this, and the levy of GST on lottery.
- A composite supply (section 2(30)) is two or more naturally bundled supplies with a principal supply and is taxed at the principal supply's rate; a mixed supply (section 2(74)) is an artificial bundle taxed at the highest rate of its parts (section 8).
- From 01.04.2025 an Input Service Distributor must distribute credit of common input services, including services on which tax is paid on reverse charge (sections 2(61) and 20 as amended in 2024 and 2025).
- "Works contract" under section 2(119) is limited to contracts for immovable property; it is treated as a supply of services.