Section 2 defines the vocabulary of inter-State and cross-border supply. Most clauses only point to another Act; the ones that decide disputes are export of services, intermediary, fixed establishment, the two "location" clauses and online information services. Anything not defined here takes its CGST Act meaning under clause (24).
Key points
- Under section 2(6) of the IGST Act, 2017 a supply of service is an export only if all five conditions are met: supplier in India, recipient outside India, place of supply outside India, payment in convertible foreign exchange (or Indian rupees where RBI permits), and supplier and recipient not merely establishments of one distinct person.
- An "intermediary" under section 2(13) arranges or facilitates a supply between two or more other persons; a person supplying on its own account is not an intermediary (CBIC Circular 159/15/2021-GST).
- In Ernst & Young Ltd v Additional Commissioner (Delhi High Court, 2023), services rendered by the Indian branch to overseas EY entities were held not to be intermediary services and to qualify as exports.
- Since 30.03.2026, when the Finance Act, 2026 omitted section 13(8)(b), an intermediary's place of supply for cross-border services is the location of the recipient, so intermediary services to foreign principals can qualify as exports.
- A service by an Indian subsidiary to its foreign holding company is not barred from being an export by condition (v) of section 2(6): they are separate legal persons (CBIC Circular 161/17/2021-GST).
- Words not defined in the IGST Act take their meaning from the CGST Act, the UTGST Act or the GST (Compensation to States) Act under section 2(24).
The provisions
2(1)–(5)Basic terms; export of goods
Statutory text
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-
(1) "Central Goods and Services Tax Act" means the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017;
(2) "central tax" means the tax levied and collected under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act;
(3) "continuous journey" means a journey for which a single or more than one ticket or invoice is issued at the same time, either by a single supplier of service or through an agent acting on behalf of more than one supplier of service, and which involves no stopover between any of the legs of the journey for which one or more separate tickets or invoices are issued.
Explanation .-For the purposes of this clause, the term " stopover" means a place where a passenger can disembark either to transfer to another conveyance or break his journey for a certain period in order to resume it at a later point of time;
(4) "customs frontiers of India" means the limits of a customs area as defined in section 2 of the Customs Act, 1962;
(5) "export of goods" with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means taking goods out of India to a place outside India;
2(6)Export of services
Statutory text
(6) "export of services" means the supply of any service when,-
(i) the supplier of service is located in India;
(ii) the recipient of service is located outside India;
(iii) the place of supply of service is outside India;
(iv) the payment for such service has been received by the supplier of service in convertible foreign exchange 1[or in Indian rupees wherever permitted by the Reserve Bank of India]; and
(v) the supplier of service and the recipient of service are not merely establishments of a distinct person in accordance with Explanation 1 in section 8;
1. Inserted by s. 2 of the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Act, 2018 (No. 32 of 2018) - Brought into force w.e.f. 01st February, 2019.
What it means
All five conditions must be met; failing any one, the supply is not an export and is taxed as an inter-State or intra-State supply.
- (i) and (ii) — where supplier and recipient are "located" is decided by clauses (15) and (14), not by where the work is physically done.
- (iii) — place of supply outside India, under section 13. Until 29.03.2026 this was where the intermediary question bit: section 13(8)(b) put an intermediary's place of supply at its own location in India, so it could not export. The Finance Act, 2026 omitted clause (b) from 30.03.2026; an intermediary now follows the general rule in section 13(2) — the recipient's location.
- (iv) — payment in convertible foreign exchange, or in Indian rupees wherever RBI permits (inserted by the IGST (Amendment) Act, 2018 from 01.02.2019).
- (v) — supplier and recipient must not be merely establishments of a distinct person under Explanation 1 to section 8 — for instance, an Indian branch and its foreign head office. An Indian subsidiary and its foreign parent are separate legal persons and are not caught (CBIC Circular 161/17/2021-GST).
- Circular 161/17/2021-GST — condition (v)
- Circular 159/15/2021-GST — intermediary
2(7)–(12)Fixed establishment; import of goods and services
Statutory text
(7) "fixed establishment" means a place (other than the registered place of business) which is characterised by a sufficient degree of permanence and suitable structure in terms of human and technical resources to supply services or to receive and use services for its own needs;
(8) "Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Act" means the Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Act, 2017;
(9) "Government" means the Central Government;
(10) "import of goods" with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means bringing goods into India from a place outside India;
(11) "import of services" means the supply of any service, where-
(i) the supplier of service is located outside India;
(ii) the recipient of service is located in India; and
(iii) the place of supply of service is in India;
(12) "integrated tax" means the integrated goods and services tax levied under this Act;
What it means
"Fixed establishment" (clause (7)) needs both a sufficient degree of permanence and a suitable structure of human and technical resources to supply, or to receive and use, services. It feeds the location clauses (14) and (15): a supply received at a fixed establishment is located there.
"Import of services" (clause (11)) is the mirror of export, with three conditions — supplier outside India, recipient in India, place of supply in India. There is no consideration or currency condition, so an import can occur without payment in foreign exchange. Imported services are inter-State supplies under section 7(4) and are usually taxed on reverse charge in the recipient's hands.
2(13)Intermediary
Statutory text
(13) "intermediary" means a broker, an agent or any other person, by whatever name called, who arranges or facilitates the supply of goods or services or both, or securities, between two or more persons, but does not include a person who supplies such goods or services or both or securities on his own account;
What it means
An intermediary arranges or facilitates a supply between two or more persons. The definition carves out a person who supplies the goods, services or securities "on his own account".
CBIC Circular 159/15/2021-GST (20.09.2021) sets out what is needed: at least three parties, two distinct supplies — the main supply between the principals and the intermediary's own facilitating service — and the character of an agent or broker. Sub-contracting a service is not an intermediary service.
The label mattered because of section 13(8)(b), which put an intermediary's place of supply at its own location, so that a service for a foreign principal was not an export. Clause (b) was omitted by the Finance Act, 2026 from 30.03.2026: for supplies from that date an intermediary's place of supply is the recipient's location under section 13(2), and the question whether a person is an intermediary matters mainly for earlier periods.
Case on this provision
Ernst & Young Ltd v Additional Commissioner, CGST Appeals-II, Delhi
W.P.(C) 8600/2022 · 2023 DHC 2116 · 23.03.2023 · Delhi High Court, Division Bench (Vibhu Bakhru, Amit Mahajan JJ.)
- Facts
- The Indian branch office of Ernst & Young Ltd, a UK company, provided professional services to EY entities outside India and claimed refunds of unutilised credit on those services as exports for December 2017 to March 2020. The refunds were rejected on the footing that it was an intermediary, so that the place of supply was in India.
- Held
- An intermediary arranges or facilitates another person's supply; a person that itself renders the services is not one. EY India supplied the services on its own account, so the place of supply was the recipients' location outside India under section 13(2), and the services were exports under section 2(6). The refund applications were directed to be processed.
- Here
- The core test of clause (13): does the person supply the service itself, or arrange someone else's supply? Only the second is an intermediary.
Commissioner of DGST v Global Opportunities Pvt Ltd — Delhi High Court, 2025— Educational consultancy for foreign universities on a principal-to-principal basis is an export, not intermediary service.
W.P.(C) 10189/2025, Prathiba M. Singh and Shail Jain JJ. The company counselled Indian students and was paid commission in foreign exchange by foreign universities. The High Court held it was not an intermediary — it acted on its own account under principal-to-principal agreements, and Indian students benefiting from the service did not make it one — and upheld the refunds. The Revenue's challenge in the Supreme Court failed on 28.01.2026.
2(14)–(15)Location of the recipient and of the supplier
Statutory text
(14) "location of the recipient of services" means,-
(a) where a supply is received at a place of business for which the registration has been obtained, the location of such place of business;
(b) where a supply is received at a place other than the place of business for which registration has been obtained (a fixed establishment elsewhere), the location of such fixed establishment;
(c) where a supply is received at more than one establishment, whether the place of business or fixed establishment, the location of the establishment most directly concerned with the receipt of the supply; and
(d) in absence of such places, the location of the usual place of residence of the recipient;
(15) "location of the supplier of services" means,-
(a) where a supply is made from a place of business for which the registration has been obtained, the location of such place of business;
(b) where a supply is made from a place other than the place of business for which registration has been obtained (a fixed establishment elsewhere), the location of such fixed establishment;
(c) where a supply is made from more than one establishment, whether the place of business or fixed establishment, the location of the establishment most directly concerned with the provision of the supply; and
(d) in absence of such places, the location of the usual place of residence of the supplier;
What it means
Both clauses follow the same order: (a) the registered place of business, if the supply is received at or made from it; (b) a fixed establishment elsewhere, if that is where it is received or made from; (c) where several establishments are involved, the one most directly concerned with the supply; (d) failing all of these, the usual place of residence.
For a supply with an Indian supplier and a foreign recipient, these clauses answer conditions (i) and (ii) of export of services; for a foreign supplier and Indian recipient, conditions (i) and (ii) of import of services.
2(16)–(17)Online information services and non-taxable online recipients
Statutory text
2[(16) "non-taxable online recipient" means any unregistered person receiving online information and database access or retrieval services located in taxable territory.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this clause, the expression "unregistered person" includes a person registered solely in terms of clause (vi) of section 24 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017]
(17) "online information and database access or retrieval services" means services whose delivery is mediated by information technology over the internet or an electronic network and the nature of which renders their supply 3[* * * *] impossible to ensure in the absence of information technology and includes electronic services such as,-
(i) advertising on the internet;
(ii) providing cloud services;
(iii) provision of e-books, movie, music, software and other intangibles through telecommunication networks or internet;
(iv) providing data or information, retrievable or otherwise, to any person in electronic form through a computer network;
(v) online supplies of digital content (movies, television shows, music and the like);
(vi) digital data storage; and
4[(vii) online gaming, excluding the online money gaming as defined in clause (80B) of section 2 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017;]
2. Substituted by s. 160 of The Finance (No. 8) Act, 2023 (No. 08 of 2023) - Brought into force w.e.f. 01st October, 2023 vide Notification No. 28/2023-C.T., dated 31st July, 2023.
3. Omitted by s. 160 of The Finance (No. 8) Act, 2023 (No. 08 of 2023) - Brought into force w.e.f. 01st October, 2023 vide Notification No. 28/2023-C.T., dated 31st July, 2023.
4. Substituted by s. 2 of the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Act, 2023 (No. 31 of 2023) - Brought into force w.e.f. yet to be notified.
What it means
Clause (17) defines "online information and database access or retrieval services" (OIDAR): services delivered over the internet or an electronic network whose nature makes them impossible to supply without information technology. The words "essentially automated and involving minimal human intervention" were omitted by the Finance Act, 2023 from 01.10.2023, widening the definition. The listed examples include advertising on the internet, cloud services, e-books and digital content, data storage and online gaming other than online money gaming.
Clause (16), substituted from the same date, makes a "non-taxable online recipient" any unregistered person receiving OIDAR services in the taxable territory — including a person registered only to deduct tax under section 51 of the CGST Act. A foreign supplier of OIDAR services to such recipients must register and pay tax under section 14.
The online-gaming exclusion in item (vii) came with the IGST (Amendment) Act, 2023, in force from 01.10.2023 (Notification 02/2023-Integrated Tax); online money gaming by overseas suppliers is dealt with in section 14A.
CBIC note 4 marks the IGST (Amendment) Act, 2023 as "yet to be notified" and notes 2–3 cite the "Finance (No. 8) Act, 2023". The 2023 Amendment Act is in force from 01.10.2023 (Notification 02/2023-Integrated Tax, 29.09.2023), and the Act in notes 2–3 is the Finance Act, 2023 (No. 8 of 2023).
2(18)–(23)Output tax, SEZ, supply, taxable territory, zero-rated supply
Statutory text
(18) "output tax", in relation to a taxable person, means the integrated tax chargeable under this Act on taxable supply of goods or services or both made by him or by his agent but excludes tax payable by him on reverse charge basis;
(19) "Special Economic Zone" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in clause ( za ) of section 2 of the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005;
(20) "Special Economic Zone developer" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in clause ( g ) of section 2 of the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 and includes an Authority as defined in clause ( d ) and a Co-Developer as defined in clause ( f ) of section 2 of the said Act;
(21) "supply" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in section 7 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act;
(22) "taxable territory" means the territory to which the provisions of this Act apply;
(23) "zero-rated supply" shall have the meaning assigned to it in section 16;
What it means
"Output tax" (clause (18)) excludes tax payable on reverse charge — reverse-charge tax is paid in cash, not set off against credit as output tax.
"Special Economic Zone" and "SEZ developer" (clauses (19) and (20)) take the SEZ Act, 2005 meanings; a supply to an SEZ unit or developer for authorised operations is a zero-rated supply under section 16.
"Supply" (clause (21)) is the CGST Act meaning in section 7.
2(24)–(25)Borrowed meanings
Statutory text
(24) words and expressions used and not defined in this Act but defined in the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, the Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Act and the Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Act shall have the same meaning as assigned to them in those Acts;
(25) any reference in this Act to a law which is not in force in the State of Jammu and Kashmir, shall, in relation to that State be construed as a reference to the corresponding law, if any, in force in that State.
What it means
Clause (24) imports the definitions of the CGST Act, the UTGST Act and the GST (Compensation to States) Act for any word the IGST Act uses but does not define — "India", "goods", "services", "business", "recipient", "registered person" and many more.
Clause (25), on laws not in force in Jammu and Kashmir, has had little work to do since the Act was extended there in July 2017.
Statutory text as published on the CBIC tax information portal, as on 03.10.2026; the numbered notes record each amendment. Official source
Common questions
- What are the conditions for export of services under GST?
- Section 2(6) of the IGST Act requires all five: supplier located in India, recipient located outside India, place of supply outside India, payment in convertible foreign exchange or in Indian rupees where RBI permits, and supplier and recipient not merely establishments of one distinct person.
- Who is an intermediary under GST?
- Under section 2(13) of the IGST Act, a broker, agent or other person who arranges or facilitates a supply between two or more persons, but not one who supplies on its own account. CBIC Circular 159/15/2021-GST requires at least three parties and two distinct supplies. Since 30.03.2026 the special place-of-supply rule for intermediaries (section 13(8)(b)) no longer applies.
- Are services by an Indian subsidiary to its foreign parent an export?
- They can be. A subsidiary and its foreign parent are separate legal persons, so condition (v) of section 2(6) does not bar export (CBIC Circular 161/17/2021-GST); the other four conditions must still be met.
- Is payment in Indian rupees allowed for export of services?
- Yes, wherever permitted by the Reserve Bank of India — inserted in section 2(6)(iv) with effect from 01.02.2019.
- What changed in the definition of OIDAR in 2023?
- From 01.10.2023 the words "essentially automated and involving minimal human intervention" were omitted from section 2(17), and "non-taxable online recipient" in section 2(16) was redefined to cover any unregistered recipient in the taxable territory.
Commentary and case notes checked against the judgments and CBIC sources on 04.10.2026.
What it means
"Continuous journey" (clause (3)) matters for passenger transport: the place of supply under section 12(9) and section 13(10) is fixed for the whole journey, and a stopover breaks it.
"Export of goods" (clause (5)) is a physical test — taking goods out of India. A "deemed export" under section 147 of the CGST Act is not an export of goods in this sense and has its own refund route.
"Customs frontiers of India" (clause (4)) is used in section 7(2): imported goods are in inter-State supply until they cross the customs frontiers of India.