Sections 13(4) to 13(7): Property, Events and Multi-Location Services

Sections 13 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.

Four sub-sections that follow the physical location of what is being served — and two of them decide what happens when the performance is in more than one place.

13(4): the place of supply of services supplied directly in relation to an immovable property, including by experts and estate agents, accommodation by a hotel, inn, guest house, club or campsite, grant of rights to use immovable property, and services for carrying out or co-ordination of construction work including that of architects or interior decorators, shall be the place where the immovable property is located or intended to be located. 13(5): the place of supply of services by way of admission to, or organisation of, a cultural, artistic, sporting, scientific, educational or entertainment event, or a celebration, conference, fair, exhibition or similar events, and services ancillary to such admission or organisation, shall be the place where the event is actually held. 13(6): where a service under (3), (4) or (5) is supplied at more than one location including a location in the taxable territory, the place of supply is the location in the taxable territory. 13(7): where such services are supplied in more than one State or Union territory, the place of supply is each of them, apportioned by value.

Section 13(4): property, without a way back

The rule is the same as s.12(3) in substance — the property's location.

But there is a crucial difference: no proviso.

Section 12(3) carries a proviso: where the property is located or intended to be located outside India, the place of supply reverts to the location of the recipient. That keeps a domestic supply domestic even where the property is abroad.

Section 13(4) has no equivalent. So where a service relates directly to an immovable property, the place of supply is where the property is — full stop.

The consequences:

An Indian architect designing a building abroad for a foreign client has a place of supply outside India under s.13(4), and the supply can be an export of services subject to the s.2(6) conditions.

A foreign architect designing a building in India has a place of supply in India, making it an import of services taxable under reverse charge, with a self-invoice under s.31(3)(f).

And hotel accommodation abroad taken by an Indian traveller from a foreign hotel has a place of supply outside India — so no Indian tax arises on it, and no reverse charge, because the place of supply is not in the taxable territory.

Comparing 13(4) with 12(3)

The absence of the proviso in s.13(4) is deliberate. Section 12 exists to allocate a supply between Indian States, so it needs a rule for property abroad. Section 13 exists to decide whether India taxes at all, so it lets the property's location do that directly.

Section 13(5): events, without the registration split

Section 12(7) splits event organisation by whether the recipient is registered — the registered recipient's location, or the venue.

Section 13(5) does not split. It covers both admission to and organisation of an event, and places both at where the event is actually held.

So:

An Indian event company organising a conference abroad for a foreign client has a place of supply outside India — capable of being an export.

A foreign event company organising a conference in India has a place of supply in India — an import of services, taxable under reverse charge.

An Indian company sponsoring or attending an event abroad receives a supply with its place of supply outside India, so no Indian tax arises.

Note the width of the list: "a cultural, artistic, sporting, scientific, educational or entertainment event, or a celebration, conference, fair, exhibition or similar events" — plus services ancillary to such admission or organisation. Trade fairs and exhibitions abroad are squarely within it. Section 12(6) and 12(7) →

Section 13(6): the tie-breaker in India's favour

"Where any services referred to in sub-section (3) or sub-section (4) or sub-section (5) is supplied at more than one location, including a location in the taxable territory, its place of supply shall be the location in the taxable territory."

It applies only to services under (3), (4) or (5) — performance-based services, property services and events.

And it resolves in one direction. Where performance touches India at all, alongside locations abroad, the place of supply is India.

Where it operates:

• testing or inspection carried out partly in India and partly abroad;
• an exhibition running in India and in another country;
• construction co-ordination for a project with elements in India and abroad;
• maintenance on equipment at multiple sites, some in India.

The practical consequence: an Indian supplier cannot treat such a service as an export merely because most of the performance was abroad. Any Indian element brings the whole place of supply to India.

And for a foreign supplier, any Indian element makes the whole supply an import of services, taxable under reverse charge on the full value — which is why the contract should separate the Indian and non-Indian scopes where they are genuinely distinct supplies.

Section 13(7): apportioning across Indian States

"Where the services referred to in sub-section (3) or sub-section (4) or sub-section (5) are supplied in more than one State or Union territory, the place of supply of such services shall be taken as being in each of the respective States or Union territories and the value of such supplies specific to each State or Union territory shall be in proportion to the value for services separately collected or determined in terms of the contract or agreement entered into in this regard or, in the absence of such contract or agreement, on such other basis as may be prescribed."

The same apportionment architecture used in s.12(3), 12(7), 12(11) and 12(14) — and the same hierarchy:

1. value separately collected under the contract;
2. value determined in terms of the contract;
3. such other basis as may be prescribed.

And it operates after s.13(6). Section 13(6) decides that the place of supply is in India; s.13(7) then splits it across the Indian States in which the service was supplied.

So for an inbound multi-State service — a foreign supplier servicing equipment at plants in three States — the sequence is: s.13(6) puts the place of supply in India; s.13(7) apportions it across the three States; and the reverse charge liability falls on each of the three registrations in proportion.

Which makes the contract the operative document again. A foreign vendor's contract for multi-State work should state the value attributable to each site, because without it the apportionment falls to whatever is prescribed and each registration's reverse charge liability is uncertain. The sixty-day rule →

Key takeaways

• Section 13(4) places property services at the property's location, with no proviso pulling them back — unlike s.12(3).
• So an Indian professional serving a foreign property can export, and a foreign professional serving Indian property triggers reverse charge.
• Section 13(5) places both admission and organisation at where the event is held, with no registration split.
• Section 13(6) resolves multi-location performance in favour of India wherever any part touches the taxable territory.
• Section 13(7) then apportions across Indian States, using the contract as the primary basis.
• Contracts for multi-State or multi-country work should separate the scopes and values.

Read next

• Section 13(3): Goods Made Available and Physical Presence
• Section 13(2): The Default Cross-Border Rule
• Section 12(6) and 12(7): Admission and Event Organisation
• Export of Services: The Five Conditions in Section 2(6)

Disclaimer: Positions stated as on 5 September 2026, based on the IGST Act as amended to 31 March 2026 (ICAI Bare Law, 12th edition).