Maintenance of accounts by registered persons

In force From 22 Jun 2017 Act G.S.R. 610(E) of 2017 As on 08 Oct 2026

Act G.S.R. 610(E) of 2017 Ministry Finance Enacted 19 Jun 2017 In force 22 Jun 2017 Cited by 1 provision

Rule 56 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 deals with maintenance of accounts by registered persons. Every registered person shall keep and maintain, in addition to the particulars mentioned in sub-section (1) of section 35 , a true and correct account of the goods or services imported or exported or of supplies attracting payment of tax on reverse charge along with the relevant documents, includin The Act came into force on 22 Jun 2017.

(1) Every registered person shall keep and maintain, in addition to the particulars mentioned in sub-section (1) of section 35 , a true and correct account of the goods or services imported or exported or of supplies attracting payment of tax on reverse charge along with the relevant documents, including invoices, bills of supply, delivery challans, credit notes, debit notes, receipt vouchers, payment vouchers and refund vouchers.
(2) Every registered person, other than a person paying tax under section 10 , shall maintain the accounts of stock in respect of goods received and supplied by him, and such accounts shall contain particulars of the opening balance, receipt, supply, goods lost, stolen, destroyed, written off or disposed of by way of gift or free sample and the balance of stock including raw materials, finished goods, scrap and wastage thereof.
(3) Every registered person shall keep and maintain a separate account of advances received, paid and adjustments made thereto.
(4) Every registered person, other than a person paying tax under section 10 , shall keep and maintain an account, containing the details of tax payable (including tax payable in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (3) and sub-section (4) of section 9 ), tax collected and paid, input tax, input tax credit claimed, together with a register of tax invoice, credit notes, debit notes, delivery challan issued or received during any tax period.
(5) Every registered person shall keep the particulars of - (a) names and complete addresses of suppliers from whom he has received the goods or services chargeable to tax under the Act;
(b) names and complete addresses of the persons to whom he has supplied goods or services, where required under the provisions of this Chapter;
(c) the complete address of the premises where goods are stored by him, including goods stored during transit along with the particulars of the stock stored therein.
(6) If any taxable goods are found to be stored at anyplace(s) other than those declared under sub-rule (5) without the cover of any valid documents, the proper officer shall determine the amount of tax payable on such goods as if such goods have been supplied by the registered person.
(7) Every registered person shall keep the books of account at the principal place of business and books of account relating to additional place of business mentioned in his certificate of registration and such books of account shall include any electronic form of data stored on any electronic device.
(8) Any entry in registers, accounts and documents shall not be erased, effaced or overwritten, and all incorrect entries, otherwise than those of clerical nature, shall be scored out under attestation and there after the correct entry shall be recorded and where the registers and other documents are maintained electronically, a log of every entry edited or deleted shall be maintained.
(9) Each volume of books of account maintained manually by the registered person shall be serially numbered.
(10) Unless proved otherwise, if any documents, registers, or any books of account belonging to a registered person are found at any premises other than those mentioned in the certificate of registration, they shall be presumed to be maintained by the said registered person.
(11) Every agent referred to in clause(5) of section 2 shall maintain accounts depicting the,- (a) particulars of authorisation received by him from each principal to receive or supply goods or services on behalf of such principal separately;
(b) particulars including description, value and quantity(wherever applicable) of goods or services received on behalf of every principal;
(c) particulars including description, value and quantity(wherever applicable) of goods or services supplied on behalf of every principal;
(d) details of accounts furnished to every principal; and (e) tax paid on receipts or on supply of goods or services effected on behalf of every principal.
(12) Every registered person manufacturing goods shall maintain monthly production accounts showing quantitative details of raw materials or services used in the manufacture and quantitative details of the goods so manufactured including the waste and by products thereof.
(13) Every registered person supplying services shall maintain the accounts showing quantitative details of goods used in the provision of services, details of input services utilised and the services supplied.
(14) Every registered person executing works contract shall keep separate accounts for works contract showing - (a) the names and addresses of the persons on whose behalf the works contract is executed;
(b) description, value and quantity (wherever applicable) of goods or services received for the execution of works contract;
(c) description, value and quantity (wherever applicable) of goods or services utilized in the execution of works contract;
(d) the details of payment received in respect of each works contract; and (e) the names and addresses of suppliers from whom he received goods or services.
(15) The records under the provisions of this Chapter may be maintained in electronic form and the record so maintained shall be authenticated by means of a digital signature.
(16) Accounts maintained by the registered person together with all the invoices, bills of supply, credit and debit notes, and delivery challans relating to stocks, deliveries, inward supply and outward supply shall be preserved for the period as provided in section 36 and shall, where such accounts and documents are maintained manually, be kept at every related place of business mentioned in the certificate of registration and shall be accessible at every related place of business where such accounts and documents are maintained digitally.
(17) Any person having custody over the goods in the capacity of a carrier or a clearing and forwarding agent for delivery or dispatch thereof to a recipient on behalf of any registered person shall maintain true and correct records in respect of such goods handled by him on behalf of such registered person and shall produce the details thereof as and when required by the proper officer.
(18) Every registered person shall, on demand, produce the books of accounts which he is required to maintain under any law for the time being in force.
Rule 56, The Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 (Act G.S.R. 610(E) of 2017).

Cross-references

Extracted from the operative text of the enactments themselves. Every destination below exists in our corpus.

This section refers to

Referred to by 1

r. 94 Order sanctioning interest on delayed refunds

Questions about Rule 56

What does Rule 56 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules deal with?

Rule 56 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules is headed "Maintenance of accounts by registered persons". Every registered person shall keep and maintain, in addition to the particulars mentioned in sub-section (1) of section 35 , a true and correct account of the goods or services imported or exported or of supplies attracting payment of tax on reverse charge along with the relevant documents, includin

How do I find court cases under Rule 56 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules?

In judgments and charge sheets this rule is written several ways, and each form finds a different set of orders. These search the full text of every order eCourtsIndia holds, best matches first: CGST Rules 2017 56, rule 56 CGST Rules 2017, rule 56 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome.

What should I read with Rule 56 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, and has it changed?

Its own text turns on rule 2 (Definitions), rule 10 (Issue of registration certificate), rule 35 (Value of supply inclusive of integrated tax, central tax, State tax, Union territory tax), rule 36 (Documentary requirements and conditions for claiming input tax credit), and on 1 further provision, so none of them can safely be read on its own. 1 other provision in this corpus refers back to it.

When did Rule 56 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules come into force?

Rule 56 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, cited as CGST Rules 2017 56, came into force on 22 Jun 2017, having been enacted on 19 Jun 2017. It is in force as at the date shown on this page.

Other rules of this Act

Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Parsed from the consolidated PDF published by CBIC at taxinformation.cbic.gov.in. The provision list against which this parse was checked comes from the same portal, so a rule the document omits is still recorded. This page is not a substitute for legal advice.