Section 93 of the CGST Act, 2017

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GST›CGST Act, 2017›Chapter XVI, Liability to Pay in Certain Cases

At a glance

Entitlement and conditions

  • 93(1)Subject to the insolvency saving, a legal representative or other person continuing the deceased’s business bears its dues. If discontinued before or after death, the representative pays from the estate only to its capacity, including amounts determined after death.

Bars, duties and time limits

  • 93(2)Subject to the insolvency saving, members or groups receiving partitioned Hindu Undivided Family or association property bear joint and several responsibility for dues up to partition, even if determined later.
  • 93(3)Subject to the insolvency saving, partners of a dissolved firm bear joint and several responsibility for dues up to dissolution, even if determined later.
  • 93(4)Subject to the insolvency saving, a ward or beneficiary bears business dues up to termination of the guardianship or trust, even if determined later.

Procedure, powers and definitions

  • 93The law does not settle which insolvency provisions apply or when, or whether the person continuing a deceased’s business also benefits from an estate-value limit.

Death, partition, dissolution or termination of a guardianship or trust can shift responsibility for existing tax, interest and penalty. Each rule saves what the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code otherwise provides. Where a deceased person’s business is discontinued, the legal representative’s responsibility is limited to the estate’s capacity; the continuation rule does not contain the same express limit.[1]

Text

The text below is the section as served by the CBIC tax information portal on 17 September 2026, with the portal's own amendment footnote markers (shown as small numerals before a bracket) and its footnotes.[1] The Act as published in the Gazette of India is the legal source.

Section 93, verbatim (show)

* Section 93. Special provisions regarding liability to pay tax, interest or penalty in certain cases.-

(1) Save as otherwise provided in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (31 of 2016), where a person, liable to pay tax, interest or penalty under this Act, dies, then-

(a) if a business carried on by the person is continued after his death by his legal representative or any other person, such legal representative or other person, shall be liable to pay tax, interest or penalty due from such person under this Act; and

(b) if the business carried on by the person is discontinued, whether before or after his death, his legal representative shall be liable to pay, out of the estate of the deceased, to the extent to which the estate is capable of meeting the charge, the tax, interest or penalty due from such person under this Act,

whether such tax, interest or penalty has been determined before his death but has remained unpaid or is determined after his death.

(2) Save as otherwise provided in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, where a taxable person, liable to pay tax, interest or penalty under this Act, is a Hindu Undivided Family or an association of persons and the property of the Hindu Undivided Family or the association of persons is partitioned amongst the various members or groups of members, then, each member or group of members shall, jointly and severally, be liable to pay the tax, interest or penalty due from the taxable person under this Act up to the time of the partition whether such tax, penalty or interest has been determined before partition but has remained unpaid or is determined after the partition.

(3) Save as otherwise provided in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (31 of 2016), where a taxable person, liable to pay tax, interest or penalty under this Act, is a firm, and the firm is dissolved, then, every person who was a partner shall, jointly and severally, be liable to pay the tax, interest or penalty due from the firm under this Act up to the time of dissolution whether such tax, interest or penalty has been determined before the dissolution, but has remained unpaid or is determined after dissolution.

(4) Save as otherwise provided in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (31 of 2016), where a taxable person liable to pay tax, interest or penalty under this Act,-

(a) is the guardian of a ward on whose behalf the business is carried on by the guardian; or

(b) is a trustee who carries on the business under a trust for a beneficiary,

then, if the guardianship or trust is terminated, the ward or the beneficiary shall be liable to pay the tax, interest or penalty due from the taxable person upto the time of the termination of the guardianship or trust, whether such tax, interest or penalty has been determined before the termination of guardianship or trust but has remained unpaid or is determined thereafter.

*Enforced w.e.f. 1st July, 2017.

Questions to answer on the file

Questions a reviewer answers from the engagement file, grouped by the part of the section they come from. They describe what the section asks; they do not decide it.

Scope the section as a whole

Questions to answer on the file2 questions
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The saving for the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 the opening words of 93(1), 93(2), 93(3) and 93(4)

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Death of the person liable 93(1) opening words

Questions to answer on the file4 questions
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The business continued after the death 93(1)(a)

Questions to answer on the file5 questions
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The business discontinued 93(1)(b)

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Whether the amount was determined before or after the death 93(1) closing words

Questions to answer on the file1 question
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Partition of a Hindu Undivided Family or an association of persons 93(2)

Questions to answer on the file7 questions
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Dissolution of a firm 93(3)

Questions to answer on the file6 questions
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Termination of a guardianship or trust 93(4), with clauses (a) and (b)

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Amendment history

The CBIC text carries 1 footnote. The table gives each in the source's own terms. Effective dates are as the footnotes state them.[1]

Amendments to section 93 as footnoted in the CBIC text
NoteChangeInstrumentEffective from
brought section 93 into forcenone — the source's own enforcement note, not an amendment footnote1 July 2017
Provisions connected to Section 93
ProvisionConnectionWords that tie them
Section 293(2) defined by Section 2 clause (84)93(2) turns on the taxable person being "a Hindu Undivided Family or an association of persons", which clause (84) lists as persons
Section 9093(3) same as Section 90section 90 makes the partners jointly and severally liable while the firm subsists; 93(3) does the same for "every person who was a partner" once it is dissolved
Section 9193(4) same as Section 91section 91 levies on the guardian or trustee while the guardianship or trust subsists; 93(4) carries the liability to the ward or the beneficiary once it is terminated
Section 2this provision defined by Section 2 clause (107)93(2), 93(3) and 93(4) each turn on a "taxable person"

Circulars and notifications

Circulars and notifications in the CBIC repository that cite this section, newest first, by number, date and subject. A listing here does not say what an instrument decides; read the instrument.

Circulars (1)

NumberDateSubject
Circular No. 96/15/2019-GST28 March 2019Seeks to clarify issues in respect of transfer of input tax credit in case of death of sole proprietor.

Unsettled questions

The words of section 93 do not answer these questions. Where one decides a matter on the file, the answer depends on the position taken on it.

  1. Each of the four sub-sections opens "Save as otherwise provided in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016" and none of them says which provisions of the Code otherwise provide, for which of the four events, or from what point in a proceeding under the Code the saving bites.
  2. Clause (b) of sub-section (1) confines the legal representative to the estate of the deceased and to the extent it is capable of meeting the charge. Clause (a) carries no such words. Is the liability of a legal representative or other person who continues the business also confined to the estate, or is it unlimited?

See also

References

  1. Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. "Section 93. Special provisions regarding liability to pay tax, interest or penalty in certain cases". Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, CBIC tax information portal, with amendment footnotes 1 to 1. Retrieved 17 September 2026.

External links