Can you sell online without GST in India?

Whether you must register depends on your aggregate turnover: the value of all your business sales in a financial year, counted across India. A business that sells only goods does not have to register until that turnover crosses ₹40 lakh. The limit is ₹20 lakh for sales within Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Puducherry, Sikkim, Telangana, Tripura and Uttarakhand.

Ice cream, pan masala and tobacco products do not get the ₹40 lakh limit. If you sell services, or goods and services together, the limit is ₹20 lakh, or ₹10 lakh in Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura.

Below the limit, registration is optional. Some small businesses register anyway, for example to claim input tax credit on the GST they pay to their own suppliers.

Section 24 of the CGST Act lists sellers who must register even below the limit. For a small seller, the two that matter most are selling goods to a buyer in another state, and selling through an e-commerce operator that has to collect tax at source. There are narrow exceptions, such as for some handicraft goods sold to other states, which the GST Council’s registration guide lists.

Under section 52, an e-commerce operator collects tax at source on sales where it collects the payment from the buyer. Since 1 October 2023, a small seller of goods on such a marketplace can take an enrolment number on the GST portal instead of registering, if it stays under the turnover limit, sells only within one state and holds a PAN. It must declare its PAN, business address and state on the portal and receive the enrolment number before it sells.

Flipns does not ask for a GSTIN: you can create an account and publish listings without one. Buyers near you message you, you agree the price in chat, and the buyer pays you directly when you meet. Flipns does not collect the payment for the item, hold escrow or arrange delivery.

Your own GST position still depends on your business as a whole: your turnover, what you sell, and whether you sell to buyers in other states, on Flipns or anywhere else.

A few questions settle most cases. Answer them for your business as a whole, not for one platform.

• Add up your business sales for the financial year, across every place you sell, and compare the total with your state’s limit.
• Note whether you sell, or plan to sell, goods to buyers in other states.
• Check whether any marketplace you use collects payment from buyers for you.
• If you are close to the limit or unsure, read the registration help on gst.gov.in or ask a tax professional.

This guide explains the official rules in general and is not tax advice. Limits and procedures can change, so confirm the current position on gst.gov.in before you rely on it.

Checked on 12 October 2026. Pages change, so check the current version on each site.

• Notification No. 10/2019-Central Tax: the ₹40 lakh registration limit for suppliers of goods, the goods it excludes and the ten states with a lower limit
• GST Council, Registration under GST Law: the limits for goods, services and mixed supplies, voluntary registration and the handicraft exception
• CBIC, CGST Act section 24: the sellers who must register whatever their turnover
• CBIC, CGST Act section 52: when an e-commerce operator collects tax at source
• Notification No. 34/2023-Central Tax: enrolment instead of registration for small sellers of goods through e-commerce operators, from 1 October 2023
• GST portal: the official site for registration and enrolment

• List on Flipns for free, with no GSTIN asked
• Compare the ways to sell locally
• Put a shop’s catalogue online
• Show everything you sell on one seller page
• Avoid fake-payment scams when you sell
• Plan a safer meeting and handover