Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017
Official sources
Use the official source for the controlling wording, footnotes, effective date and amendment history.
Finin2min Summary - the Act in 2 Minutes
The UTGST Act is the mirror image of a State's own SGST Act, but for the handful of Union Territories that have no legislature of their own to pass one. On an intra-UT supply in these territories, Union territory tax (UTGST) is charged alongside CGST, in place of SGST - together making up the same combined rate a State would charge as CGST+SGST.
Which territories this Act actually covers
Not every Union Territory falls under this Act. UTs with their own legislature - Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu & Kashmir - are treated as "States" for GST purposes and have enacted their own separate SGST-equivalent Acts (the Delhi GST Act, the Puducherry GST Act and the Jammu and Kashmir GST Act, each 2017), not this Act. The UTGST Act, 2017 applies only to the UTs without a legislature: Chandigarh, Lakshadweep, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (merged since 2020), the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Ladakh (UT since 2019).
Structure and key provisions
| Section | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Section 5 | Powers of officers appointed under the CGST Act to also act as officers under this Act |
| Section 7 | Levy and collection of Union territory tax on intra-UT supplies (except alcoholic liquor for human consumption), at a rate not exceeding 20%, mirroring the CGST rate for that supply |
| Section 8 | Power of the Central Government to grant exemptions from Union territory tax, by notification, on the recommendation of the GST Council |
| Section 9 | Payment of tax and the utilisation order for input tax credit of Union territory tax against output UTGST/IGST liability |
| Section 21 | Applies most of the CGST Act's substantive and procedural provisions (registration, assessment, ITC, valuation, demand, appeals) to UTGST "mutatis mutandis" - the same drafting technique the IGST Act uses in its own Section 20 |
Finin2min Q&A
- Does Delhi charge UTGST or SGST?
- SGST. Delhi is a Union Territory with its own legislature, so it is treated as a "State" for GST and administers its own Delhi GST Act, 2017 - not this Act.
- Which territories actually use this Act?
- Only the 5 UTs without a legislature: Chandigarh, Lakshadweep, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Ladakh.
- Is the UTGST rate different from SGST?
- No - it is designed to mirror the SGST rate a State would charge on the same intra-State supply, so the combined CGST+UTGST burden matches CGST+SGST elsewhere.