UTGST Sections 9 explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.
A twenty-six section Act, of which only a handful say anything the CGST Act does not. Those are worth knowing; the rest is borrowed.
The UTGST Act contains its own provisions on the levy (s.7), exemption (s.8), payment of tax (s.9), transfer of input tax credit (s.10), the officers and their powers (ss.3 to 6), the advance ruling authority and appellate authority for a Union territory (ss.14 and 15), transitional provisions (ss.17 to 20), and the application of CGST provisions (s.21). Everything else — registration, returns, refunds, audit, demands, appeals, offences, penalties — comes from the CGST Act through s.21.
Section 9: payment of tax, and the credit order
Section 9 provides for the payment of tax and the manner in which input tax credit is used against Union territory tax liability.
The architecture mirrors SGST exactly. Read with ss.49, 49A and 49B of the CGST Act and Rule 88A:
- IGST credit must be fully utilised against IGST first, and may then be used against CGST and UTGST in any order;
- CGST credit is used against CGST and then IGST;
- UTGST credit is used against UTGST and then IGST;
- and CGST and UTGST credit cannot be cross-utilised against each other.
Which produces the same balance behaviour as SGST. A business with predominantly intra-territory outputs will exhaust IGST credit against CGST and UTGST; one with predominantly inter-State outputs will use it against IGST — and the residual balances in each head determine whether an issue arises. Order of utilisation →
Section 10: transfer of input tax credit
Section 10 provides for the transfer of input tax credit between the Union territory tax account and the integrated tax account, where UTGST credit is used to pay integrated tax — the administrative counterpart of the utilisation.
It is the UTGST analogue of s.18 of the IGST Act, which does the same for integrated tax.
No taxpayer files anything under it. What the taxpayer sees is the utilisation in the return; s.10 moves the money between government accounts so each receives what it is entitled to.
Sections 3 to 6: officers and powers
Section 3 provides for the appointment of officers for a Union territory.
Section 4 allows the Administrator to appoint Commissioners and other classes of officers as required.
Section 5 deals with the powers of officers, and s.6 with the authorisation of officers of central tax as proper officers in certain circumstances — the UTGST counterpart of s.6 of the CGST Act, which cross-empowers officers.
The cross-empowerment matters practically, because it is the basis of the s.6(2)(b) bar: where a proper officer under one Act has initiated proceedings on a subject matter, no proceedings shall be initiated by the proper officer under the other Act on the same subject matter. That is the provision to take where two authorities pursue the same issue. Multi-State audits →
Sections 14 and 15: advance ruling in a Union territory
Section 14 provides for the Authority for Advance Ruling constituted under the UTGST Act, and s.15 for the Appellate Authority.
Read with s.96 and s.99 of the CGST Act, which deem the Authority and Appellate Authority constituted under a State or Union territory GST Act to be the Authority and Appellate Authority for that State or Union territory for the purposes of the CGST Act — so a single Authority serves both levies.
Which is why everything written about advance rulings applies unchanged in a Union territory: the seven questions in s.97(2), the admission bar in the first proviso to s.98(2), the ninety days, the s.100 appeal in ARA-02 or ARA-03, the binding effect on the applicant alone under s.103, and the void ab initio power in s.104. Section 97(2) →
Sections 17 to 20: transitional provisions
The UTGST Act carries its own transitional provisions, mirroring ss.139 to 142 of the CGST Act:
- migration of existing taxpayers;
- transitional arrangements for input tax credit — the UTGST counterpart of s.140;
- transitional provisions relating to job work;
- and the miscellaneous transitional provisions dealing with goods returned, price revisions, existing-law proceedings and straddling supplies.
They remain relevant for the same reasons the CGST equivalents do: existing-law appeals are still being decided, and FY 2017-18 demands remain live under limitation extended by s.168A notifications. Section 140 → Section 142 →
Sections 22 to 26: rules, regulations and difficulties
Section 22 — the power to make rules, on the Council's recommendations.
Section 23 — the power to make regulations.
Section 24 — the laying of rules, regulations and notifications before Parliament.
Section 25 — removal of difficulties, mirroring s.172 of the CGST Act: where a difficulty arises in giving effect to any provision, the Government may, on the Council's recommendations, by a general or special order published in the Official Gazette, make provisions not inconsistent with the Act as may be necessary or expedient — subject to the same sunset on the power that s.172 carries. Sections 162, 163, 164 and 170 →
What this means in practice
For a business operating in a Union territory, almost nothing is different.
- Registration — under the CGST machinery applied by s.21; the GSTIN carries the Union territory code.
- Invoicing — CGST plus UTGST on intra-territory supplies, at the same rates.
- Returns — the same GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B, with UTGST in place of SGST.
- Credit — the same ledgers, with UTGST as a distinct head behaving like SGST.
- Refunds, audits, demands, appeals and penalties — all under the CGST provisions applied by s.21.
The one thing to get right is the head, and that follows from whether the territory levies SGST or UTGST — which in turn follows from whether it has a legislature. UTGST: which Union territories →
Key takeaways
- The UTGST Act's own provisions cover the levy, exemption, payment, credit transfer, officers, advance ruling, transition and rule-making.
- Section 9 applies the same credit utilisation architecture as SGST — no cross-utilisation with CGST.
- Section 10 transfers credit between accounts, mirroring s.18 of the IGST Act.
- Sections 14 and 15 constitute the advance ruling authorities, which serve both levies through s.96 and s.99 of the CGST Act.
- Sections 17 to 20 carry the transitional provisions, still relevant for FY 2017-18 matters.
- Everything else comes from the CGST Act through s.21, so no separate compliance regime arises.
Read next
- UTGST: Which Union Territories, and When It Applies
- Order of Utilisation: Sections 49A, 49B and Rule 88A
- Section 140: Transitional Credit, and Where It Stands Now
- Section 97(2): The Seven Questions an Advance Ruling Can Answer
Disclaimer: Positions stated as on 5 September 2026, based on the UTGST Act and the CGST Act as amended to 31 March 2026 (ICAI Bare Law, 12th edition).