Sections 12 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.
Two sub-sections side by side, covering services that are physically delivered to a person — and applying different tests to them.
Section 12(4): the place of supply of restaurant and catering services, personal grooming, fitness, beauty treatment, health service including cosmetic and plastic surgery shall be the location where the services are actually performed. No registration split, no address test — performance decides it in every case. Section 12(5): the place of supply of services in relation to training and performance appraisal to (a) a registered person shall be the location of such person; (b) a person other than a registered person shall be the location where the services are actually performed.
Section 12(4): performance, and only performance
The services listed:
- restaurant and catering services;
- personal grooming;
- fitness;
- beauty treatment;
- health service including cosmetic and plastic surgery.
The common feature: each is delivered to a person physically present, and each is consumed where it is delivered.
The test: "the location where the services are actually performed." There is no split by registration status — unlike almost every other sub-section in s.12.
What follows.
A corporate customer gets no choice. A company registered in Delhi holding an event catered in Mumbai receives a supply with its place of supply in Maharashtra. The caterer charges CGST and SGST of Maharashtra, and the Delhi registration cannot use that credit — it sits in a State where the company is not registered.
Hotel restaurant billing. A meal in a hotel restaurant is a s.12(4) supply performed at the restaurant. The accommodation in the same hotel is a s.12(3)(b) supply at the hotel's location. Both land in the same State here, but the analysis is different — and it diverges where catering is supplied away from the hotel.
Health services. The clause names health service including cosmetic and plastic surgery. Many health services are exempt, so the place of supply question often does not arise on tax — but it does arise for reporting and for determining whether a supply is inter-State for the purposes of registration and returns.
Section 12(5): training, with a registration split
"Training and performance appraisal."
To a registered person: the location of that person.
To an unregistered person: the location where the services are actually performed.
Why the split matters.
For B2B training, the place of supply follows the customer's registration — so a trainer in Karnataka conducting a programme physically held in Maharashtra, for a customer registered in Karnataka, has a place of supply in Karnataka. The venue is irrelevant.
That is the opposite of s.12(4), where the venue decides everything.
And it makes B2B training credit usable. The customer takes the credit against the registration that engaged the trainer, wherever the session was held — which is why corporate training is one of the few venue-based services whose credit does not strand.
For B2C training — an individual attending a course — the place of supply is where it is performed.
Online training: which sub-section?
The recurring question, and it is not answered in terms by either sub-section.
Two possibilities.
If it is "training and performance appraisal" within s.12(5), the B2B answer is the customer's location — and for online delivery, that is a workable and stable answer.
If it is an OIDAR service, the position differs. Section 2(17) of the IGST Act defines online information and database access or retrieval services as services mediated by information technology over the internet or an electronic network, the nature of which renders their supply impossible in the absence of information technology, and it includes a list of electronic services. Whether a live, instructor-led online session meets the "impossible without information technology" test — as against a pre-recorded, automated course — is the dividing question.
Why it matters: for a domestic online course the difference is modest, since s.12(5)(a) and the OIDAR analysis both tend towards the recipient. For a cross-border supply the difference is substantial, because s.13(12) places OIDAR at the recipient's location with a deemed-location Explanation based on seven indicators. Section 13(12) OIDAR →
The practical approach: characterise the service on its actual delivery mechanics — automated and content-driven, or instructor-led and interactive — document the reasoning, and apply it consistently. When to seek an advance ruling →
The pattern across sub-sections 12(4) to 12(7)
Four adjacent sub-sections, and it is worth seeing them together because the tests differ:
| Sub-section | Service | Registered recipient | Unregistered recipient |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12(4) | Restaurant, catering, grooming, fitness, beauty, health | Where performed | Where performed |
| 12(5) | Training and performance appraisal | Location of the person | Where performed |
| 12(6) | Admission to an event or park | Where the event is held | Where the event is held |
| 12(7) | Organisation of an event, sponsorship | Location of the person | Where the event is held; if abroad, recipient's location |
The pattern: where the recipient is physically present and consuming — 12(4) and 12(6) — the venue governs regardless. Where the service is procured by a business — 12(5) and 12(7) — the registered recipient's location governs.
Which produces a practical planning point for corporate events. The venue hire falls under s.12(3)(c), the catering under s.12(4), the organisation under s.12(7), and delegate admission under s.12(6). A single event can generate supplies with place of supply in different States depending on which element is being invoiced — and the credit position differs for each. Section 12(6) and 12(7) →
Key takeaways
- Section 12(4) applies where the service is performed, with no registration split.
- So catering, restaurant, grooming, fitness, beauty and health services strand credit for an out-of-State corporate customer.
- Section 12(5) splits: registered — the person's location; unregistered — where performed.
- B2B training credit therefore does not strand, whatever the venue.
- Online training requires a characterisation decision against the OIDAR definition in s.2(17).
- A corporate event generates supplies under 12(3)(c), 12(4), 12(6) and 12(7), with different places of supply.
Read next
- Section 12(3): Immovable Property and the Proportionate Rule
- Section 12(6) and 12(7): Admission and Event Organisation
- Section 13(12): OIDAR and the Seven Indicators
- Restaurant Service: Schedule II 6(b) Classification
Disclaimer: Positions stated as on 5 September 2026, based on the IGST Act as amended to 31 March 2026 (ICAI Bare Law, 12th edition). The characterisation of online education services depends on the facts of the particular offering.