GST · Advanced Compliance

GST Place of Supply for Multi-State Consulting

Finin2min GST Desk·June 2026·7 min readPOS

Consulting businesses often serve customers across states without physical delivery. Place of supply determines whether IGST or CGST/SGST applies and should be decided before invoicing.

Place-of-supply decision table

Fact	Invoice control
Registered business customer	Use recipient GSTIN/state details carefully.
Unregistered customer	Check address/location and service facts.
Multiple locations	Identify recipient establishment most directly concerned.
On-site vs remote services	Review place and nature of service.
Cross-border customer	Review export/intermediary/service rules separately.

Controls

Collect customer GSTIN and billing state before onboarding.
Lock tax type based on place-of-supply review.
Maintain contract/SOW to support service location.
Review multi-branch customers separately.
Reconcile invoice tax type with GSTR-1.

Finin2min warning

Wrong place of supply creates wrong tax type. Fix onboarding data before invoice generation.

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Official sources used

This article is intentionally source-limited to official GST / CBIC / India Code material. Verify final filing positions with the latest Act, Rules, notifications, circulars and GST portal advisories before publishing.

FAQs

Why does place of supply matter? ▾

It determines whether supply is inter-state or intra-state and tax type to charge.

Should customer GSTIN be collected? ▾

Yes. It is important for B2B invoicing and place/state determination.

Are remote consulting services always export? ▾

No. Export/intermediary/place-of-supply rules need separate review.