Start by proving who the overseas recipient legally is. Under CBIC Circular No. 161/17/2021-GST, services supplied by an Indian company to its own unincorporated overseas branch, agency or representative office cannot satisfy the export definition’s distinct-person condition. A separately incorporated foreign company is a different legal person, so that particular restriction does not apply—but the supply must still meet every other export condition.
First establish whether the overseas operation is a branch or a separate company
“Overseas” does not by itself mean “export.” The relevant distinction is whether the Indian supplier and the recipient are separate legal persons, or merely establishments of the same person.
| Overseas recipient | Distinct-person condition | What that means for export treatment |
|---|---|---|
| The Indian company’s own unincorporated branch, agency or representative office | The operation is an establishment of the Indian company. | Services between the Indian company and its own overseas establishment cannot qualify as export of services under this condition, as clarified in CBIC Circular No. 161/17/2021-GST. |
| A body corporate incorporated outside India, including a separately incorporated group company | The foreign company is a separate legal person from the Indian-incorporated company. | The distinct-person restriction does not by itself prevent export treatment. The remaining statutory conditions still have to be met. |
CBIC’s Circular No. 161/17/2021-GST, dated 20 September 2021, states that a supply from an Indian company to a foreign-incorporated company’s overseas establishment may qualify as export, subject to the other conditions in section 2(6) of the IGST Act. That is not a blanket exemption for group-company transactions.
Build a file that shows the facts behind the classification
CBIC does not prescribe one universal “overseas branch services” document pack. The following is a practical way to substantiate the legal conditions, not an official exhaustive checklist.
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1. Record the legal entities and contracting parties
- Keep the Indian supplier’s exact legal name and incorporation details, and the overseas recipient’s exact name and legal form.
- Retain the contract or intercompany service agreement, and identify which entity contracted for the service, issued the invoice and received it.
- For a separately incorporated recipient, retain available foreign incorporation evidence. For a branch or other unincorporated operation, retain internal records showing its relationship to the Indian company.
- Make the file consistent: the contract, invoice, accounting records and payment evidence should identify the same parties and transaction.
2. Describe the service and show who received it
- Keep the agreement or work order, a specific description of the services, and records of the work period.
- Retain relevant deliverables, work records and correspondence that show what was done and which establishment actually received or used the service.
- Describe the tasks more precisely than a generic label such as “management services” where the underlying work can be identified.
The evidence appropriate to a service depends on what was supplied; the cited rules do not establish one universal set of deliverables for every service category.
3. Assess every export condition for each supply
Section 2(6) of the IGST Act defines export of services through cumulative conditions. Prepare a short analysis for each service or invoice that addresses all of them:
- The supplier is located in India.
- The recipient is located outside India, identifying the relevant recipient and receiving establishment on the facts.
- The place of supply is outside India under the rule applicable to that particular service.
- Payment is received in the form permitted by the law.
- The supplier and recipient are not merely establishments of a distinct person, subject to the branch-versus-separate-company distinction above.
Do not assume the place of supply from the recipient’s overseas address. Apply the rule for the actual service. If the supply may involve an intermediary, immovable property or another special place-of-supply rule, resolve that issue on the transaction facts. The service category and facts determine the analysis.
4. Issue and retain the invoice
Use the applicable GST invoice requirements and retain the invoice with the contract and service records. CBIC’s invoice rules describe an export endorsement that distinguishes these routes:
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- “SUPPLY MEANT FOR EXPORT ON PAYMENT OF IGST”
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The invoice rules also call for specified recipient, address and destination details. CBIC’s general invoice material describes a 30-day service-invoice rule with exceptions; check the applicable current provision and transaction-specific timing rather than treating 30 days as universal.
5. If exporting without payment of IGST, retain the LUT or bond and monitor realization
Under Rule 96A of the CGST Rules, a registered person choosing to supply services for export without payment of integrated tax must furnish a bond or Letter of Undertaking in Form GST RFD-11 before export. The CBIC-hosted rule compilation dated 24 September 2021 sets a one-year payment-realization period from the invoice date, subject to further time allowed by the Commissioner. It also refers to payment in Indian rupees wherever permitted by the RBI.
Keep the filed LUT or bond and acknowledgement, track the due date for each invoice, and retain payment realization evidence and follow-up records. Check the current rule text and permitted payment route before relying on the deadline.
6. Reconcile service accounts and any refund claim
CBIC’s accounts rules require service suppliers to maintain accounts showing services supplied, input services used and goods used, and recognize electronic records. Reconcile those records to the invoice and supporting service file.
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For a refund application relating to export of services, the refund rules identify a statement of invoice numbers and dates and relevant Bank Realization Certificates (BRCs) or Foreign Inward Remittance Certificates (FIRCs) as evidence. Keep these matched by invoice and period with the payment and service records; confirm the current portal forms and refund procedure when filing.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Keep industry-specific examples in their proper scope
CBIC’s Sectoral FAQs, question 54, give a banking-sector example: services from a bank or a foreign bank’s Indian branch to its offshore branch or head office, when not intermediary or account-holder services, are inter-State supplies between distinct establishments and are not exports. It illustrates the distinct-establishment issue for that banking context; it does not determine the treatment of every service supplied to an overseas operation.
Check the law applicable to the transaction date
The cited IGST Act text is a CBIC-hosted enacted text from 2017, and the cited Rule 96A compilation is dated 24 September 2021. They establish the tests and procedures described here, but are not a complete amendment history. Before classifying or filing for a particular transaction, check the latest consolidated provisions and any amendments, circulars or service-specific rules relevant to it.
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