The GST Common Portal will allow businesses to designate employees as authorized signatories, which enables them to sign and file returns on behalf of the business, as well as to make payments – all online. Any person registered on the Authorized Person tab of the GST Common Portal for an enterprise can sign and file GSTR on behalf of that enterprise, using digital signature certificates (DSC).
A DSC replaces a hand-written signature and it is mandatory for companies and Limited Liability Partnership (LLPs), and optional for other taxpayers to sign and file returns in the GST Common Portal. For this purpose either a Class 2 or a Class 3 digital signature certificate is required which comes with 1 year, 2 year and 3 year validity.
Which type of certificate is required ?
Class 2 or Class 3
Why do I need a Digital Signature Certificate?
A Digital Signature Certificate authenticates your identity electronically. It also provides you with a high level of security for your online transactions by ensuring absolute privacy of the information exchanged using a digital certificate. You can use certificates to encrypt information such that only the intended recipient can read it. You can digitally sign information to assure the recipient that it has not been changed in transit, and also verify your identity as the sender of the message.
Where can I use Digital Signature Certificates?
You can use Digital Signature Certificates for the following:
- For secure email and web-based transactions, or to identify other participants of web-based transactions.
- To prove ownership of a domain name and establish SSL/ TLS encrypted secured sessions between your website and the user for web based transactions.
- As a developer, for proving authorship of a code and retaining integrity of the distributed software programs.
- For signing web forms, e-tendering documents, filing income tax returns, to access membership-based websites automatically without entering a user name and password etc.