Entry 6 and Its Four Exclusions: Services by Government

Entry 6 explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.

Entry 6 is drafted the opposite way round from most exemptions: it exempts everything and then takes four things back. Those four exclusions are where all the tax — and all the reverse charge — actually sits.

Entry 6 of Notification No. 12/2017-CT(R) exempts services by the Central Government, State Government, Union territory or local authority, excluding: (a) services by the Department of Posts and the Ministry of Railways (Indian Railways); (b) services in relation to an aircraft or a vessel, inside or outside the precincts of a port or an airport; (c) transport of goods or passengers; and (d) any service, other than (a) to (c), provided to business entities. Three further entries then relieve parts of exclusion (d): entry 7 for small business entities, entry 9 for consideration up to ₹5,000, and entry 8 for government-to-government services.

Why the four exclusions exist

The Handbook gives the policy in two sentences:

"These services have been made taxable as they are being provided by the Government in sectors where even private players are operating and thus, the Government wants to maintain a level playing field in terms of taxes. Further, services to business entities are not for common good but for commercial reasons and thus, the same have also been made taxable."

So exclusions (a) to (c) are competition-neutrality carve-outs — post, rail, port and airport services, and transport, all have private competitors. Exclusion (d) is a different idea altogether: a business recipient means the supply is commercial, whatever it is.

And exclusion (d) is where reverse charge operates. Entry 5 of Notification No. 13/2017-CT(R) taxes services by Government or a local authority to a business entity in the recipient's hands — the same population that exclusion (d) removes from exemption.

Three entries that relieve exclusion (d)

Entry 7 — the small business entity. Exempt: services by the Central Government, State Government, Union territory or local authority to a business entity with an aggregate turnover of up to such amount in the preceding financial year as makes it eligible for exemption from registration.

With two carve-outs of its own, stated in an Explanation: the entry does not apply to items (a), (b) and (c) of entry 6, nor to services by way of renting of immovable property.

Entry 9 — the ₹5,000 rule. Exempt: services by the Central Government, State Government, Union territory or a local authority where the consideration does not exceed five thousand rupees.

Two provisos. Nothing in the entry applies to items (a), (b) and (c) of entry 6. And where the service is a continuous supply of service under section 2(33), "the exemption shall apply only where the consideration charged for such service does not exceed five thousand rupees in a financial year."

The second proviso matters more than it looks. A recurring licence fee, annual charge or periodic permission is a continuous supply, and the ₹5,000 is then a yearly ceiling, not a per-invoice one.

Entry 8 — government to government. Exempt: services other than those in items (a), (b) and (c) of entry 6 provided by the Central Government, State Government, Union territory or local authority to another Central Government, State Government, Union territory or local authority.

Note what all three share: none of them touches post, rail, aircraft/vessel or transport. Those three exclusions are absolute.

What the Handbook's examples show

Armed forces messes. Circular No. 190/02/2023-GST dated 13.01.2023 clarifies that accommodation services provided by Air Force Mess and other similar messes — Army, Navy, Paramilitary and Police forces messes — to their personnel or to any person other than a business entity are covered by entry 6, "provided the services supplied by such messes qualify to be considered as services supplied by Central Government, State Government, Union Territory or local authority."

Two conditions embedded there. The mess must qualify as a government supplier, and the recipient must not be a business entity — otherwise exclusion (d) applies.

State-managed general insurance. Drawing on Circular No. 16/16/2017-GST dated 15.11.2017, the Handbook gives the example of a State Government providing general insurance (managed by government) to employees of the State government, police personnel, employees of the Electricity Department or students of colleges and private schools, where the total premium is paid by the employees or students. Those are services by Government to individuals, within entry 6.

Government ITIs. Circular No. 55/29/2018-GST dated 10.08.2019: "Services provided by a Government ITI to individual trainees/students are exempt under this Entry 6 as these are in the nature of services provided by the Central or State Government to individuals. Such exemption… would cover both — vocational training and examinations conducted by these Government ITIs."

Police services to a private body — not exempt. CBIC FAQ question 11: "services provided by Police or security agencies of Government to PSU/private business entities are not exempt from GST and… the recipients are required to pay the tax under RCM."

The FAQ's illustration: the Karnataka Cricket Association asks the Commissioner of Police, Bangalore, to provide security in and around the stadium for a match, for consideration. "In this case, services of providing security by the police personnel are not exempt. As the services are provided by Government, Karnataka Cricket Association is liable to pay the tax on the amount of consideration paid under RCM."

That example is the clearest statement of the whole design. The service is quintessentially governmental; the recipient is a business entity; exclusion (d) applies; and the tax lands on the recipient.

Two limits on the reverse charge that pairs with entry 6

The Handbook notes them together, and both are easy to miss:

"reverse charge provisions are not applicable to renting of immovable property services provided to unregistered persons and where 'specified services' (as mentioned in entry 6) are being provided to business entities."

On renting, entry 5A of Notification No. 13/2017-CT(R) shifts the tax only where the recipient is registered; a government landlord letting to an unregistered person charges forward — and is then liable to register, subject to the section 22 threshold.

On the specified services — post, rail, aircraft/vessel and transport — reverse charge under entry 5 does not apply, because entry 5 itself excludes them. Government charges those under forward charge, which is why Indian Railways and the Department of Posts hold ordinary registrations.

Where this leaves a government department

The Handbook's summary is the practical conclusion: "the term 'person' includes central government, state government and local authorities too. Thereby, it is important to understand that all services by Government are taxable unless it is outside the scope of 'supply' or specifically exempted."

The sequence to apply, in order:

1. Is it outside supply — Schedule III, or a section 7(2)(b) notification (243G/243W activities, alcoholic liquor licence)?
2. Is it within entry 6, and outside its four exclusions?
3. If exclusion (d) applies, does entry 7 (small business entity), entry 9 (₹5,000), or entry 8 (government to government) relieve it?
4. If still taxable, is it reverse charge under entry 5 of Notification No. 13/2017-CT(R) — or forward charge, as for post, rail, transport, aircraft and vessel services, and renting to an unregistered person?

Key takeaways

• Entry 6 exempts services by Government and local authorities, subject to four exclusions.
• Exclusions (a) post and rail, (b) aircraft and vessel, (c) transport are competition-neutrality carve-outs and are absolute.
• Exclusion (d) services to business entities is where reverse charge under entry 5 operates.
• Entry 7 relieves supplies to small business entities, but not renting of immovable property or items (a) to (c).
• Entry 9 exempts consideration up to ₹5,000 — and for a continuous supply, ₹5,000 per financial year.
• Entry 8 exempts government-to-government services other than items (a) to (c).
• Armed forces messes, State-managed insurance to individuals and Government ITIs are within entry 6.
• Police security to a private body is taxable, under reverse charge in the recipient's hands.

Read next

• Exemptions on Supplies Made to Government, Entry by Entry
• Natural Resources, Royalty and the Government Exemption Entries
• RCM Entry 5: Government Services to a Business Entity

Disclaimer: Positions stated as on 5 September 2026, based on entries 6, 7, 8 and 9 of Notification No. 12/2017-Central Tax (Rate), entries 5 and 5A of Notification No. 13/2017-Central Tax (Rate), section 2(33) of the CGST Act, 2017, and Circulars No. 16/16/2017-GST, 55/29/2018-GST and 190/02/2023-GST with the CBIC FAQ series on Government services, as reproduced in the ICAI Handbook on Government Supplies under GST (Including TDS Provisions), updated to 15 April 2026.