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TMI BlogClarification on place of supply of data hosting services provided by service providers located in India to cloud computing service providers located outside IndiaX X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... inistry of Finance, Government of India, New Delhi. Circular (No. 25/2024-25-GST) The GST Policy Wing, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, New Delhi has issued the above referred Circular. For the uniformity in implementation and in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 168 of the Goa Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (Goa Act 4 of 2017) it is hereby directed that the Said Circular issued by the GST Policy Wing, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Government of India shall be applicable, mutatis mutandis, in implementation of the Goa Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (Goa Act 4 of 2017). A copy of the above r ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... h supply of data hosting services. 2.2 Thus, clarification has been sought in respect of the following issues- (i) Whether data hosting service provider qualifies as Intermediary between the cloud computing service provider and their end customers/users/subscribers as per Section 2(13) of the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (herein after referred to as the IGST Act ) and whether the services provided by data hosting service provider to cloud computing service providers are covered as intermediary services and whether the place of supply of the same is to be determined as per section 13(8)(b) of IGST Act. (ii) Whether the data hosting services are provided in relation to goods made available by recipient of services to service pr ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... eased premises, procures infrastructure and human resource, handles operations like infrastructure monitoring, IT management and equipment maintenance, etc. to provide the said supply of data hosting services to the cloud computing service providers. The data hosting service provider generally handles all aspects of data centre like rent, software and hardware infrastructure, power, net connectivity, security, human resource, etc. Importantly, the data hosting service providers do not deal with end users/consumers of cloud computing services and may not even know about the end users. 3.1.3 It is observed that data hosting service provider provides data hosting services to the cloud computing service provider on a web platform through comput ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... h services and whether the place of supply of the same is to be determined as per section 13(3)(a) of the IGST Act, 2017. 3.2.1 Section 13(3)(a) of the IGST Act provides that in cases where the services are supplied in respect of goods which are made physically available by the recipient of services to service provider, the place of supply will be location of service provider. 3.2.2 In the instant scenario, it is observed that the data hosting service provider, as an independent entity, is providing seamless data hosting services to the overseas cloud computing service providers, through the premises, hardware and personnel at the data centre which not only comprises of hardware but also other essential infrastructure (without which the har ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 2.4 There may be some cases where some of the hardware required for data hosting service is provided by the recipient of the service, i.e., the cloud computing service provider to the data hosting service provider. Even in these cases, data hosting service provider handles all aspects of data centre, like arranging for the premises, making available software and other hardware infrastructure, power, net connectivity, security, human resource, maintenance etc., for providing data hosting services to the cloud computing service provider. Accordingly, in such cases, though the data hosting services is being provided by the data hosting service provider inter-alia using the hardware made available by the cloud computing service provider, it can ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... data centre, ensuring uninterrupted power supplies, backup generators, network connectivity, backup facility, firewall services, and monitoring and surveillance service for ensuring continuous operations of the servers and related hardware, etc. which are essential for cloud computing service provider to provide cloud computing services to the end users/customer/subscribers. 3.3.4 Accordingly, it is clarified that in such a scenario, the data hosting services cannot be considered as the services provided directly in relation to immovable property or physical premises and hence, the place of supply of such services cannot be determined under section 13(4) of IGST Act. 4. Further, the place of supply for the data hosting services provided by ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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