# Place of Supply of Services — General Provision [Section 12 of IGST Act]

Applicability of Section 12: Both the supplier and the recipient must be in India. (If one is outside India, Section 13 applies — not in syllabus.)

## Decision logic

Is the service one of the specific cases listed in Section 12?	Then...
Yes	Apply the specific rule (covered in subsequent topics)
No	Apply the general / default rule below

## General (Default) Rule

Recipient	Place of Supply
Registered person	Location of the recipient
Unregistered person	Location of the recipient

The two outcomes look identical at first glance, but they diverge in one important way: if the recipient is unregistered and the location of the recipient is NOT on record of the supplier, then POS defaults to the location of the supplier.

### Summary tree

1. Specific case under Section 12? → Use the specific provision.

2. Otherwise, registered recipient → Location of recipient.

3. Otherwise, unregistered recipient with address on record → Location of recipient.

4. Otherwise (unregistered + no address on record) → Location of supplier.

Worked example

### Example 1

Example — Default rule, registered recipient

Mr. Ramu (Delhi) provides legal services to ABC Ltd. (Jaipur, registered).

Both parties are in India → Section 12 applies. Legal services to a business entity fall under the general rule (no specific case applies here for this fact pattern).

POS = Jaipur (location of recipient).

⚠️ Common exam mistakes

Jumping straight to the default rule without first checking whether the service falls under a specific case in Section 12 (e.g., immovable property, performance-based services, transport, etc.).
Ignoring the carve-out: for an unregistered recipient whose address is NOT on the supplier's record, POS becomes the supplier's location — not the recipient's.
Applying Section 12 when one of the parties is outside India — Section 13 governs cross-border services.

Bare-Act text Section 12(2) · IGST Act, 2017 · click to expand

(1) The provisions of this section shall apply to determine the place of supply of services where the location of supplier of services and the location of the recipient of services is in India. (2) The place of supply of services, except the services specified in sub-sections (3) to (14), — (a) made to a registered person shall be the location of such person; (b) made to any person other than a registered person shall be, — (i) the location of the recipient where the address on record exists; and (ii) the location of the supplier of services in other cases.

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Place of Supply of Services - General Provision (Default Rule) [Section 12 IGST Act]

Worked example

⚠️ Common exam mistakes