Cross-border service taxation

Assessment and deliverables

We analyse supplier and recipient locations, the nature of the service and the place-of-supply question. A foreign customer or foreign-currency receipt alone does not establish export treatment under GST.

The assignment can include an invoice-position note, evidence checklist and reconciliation of agreements, delivery and receipts. Withholding, treaty and related-party pricing questions are identified as separate direct-tax workstreams.

Map who commissions the work, who receives the deliverable, who performs it and who pays. Identify any intermediary or group-service arrangement in the contract and describe the activities actually performed. Keep these roles separate in the fact brief so the analysis does not substitute the payment route for the underlying supply arrangement.

Prepare the evidence

• Executed contract and statement of work
• Supplier, recipient and establishment details
• Invoices, delivery evidence and receipt records
• Related-party relationship and tax documents

Retain the statement of work, amendments and evidence of delivery or acceptance with the relevant invoices. Compare the legal entities named across those records and explain differences in billing or collection arrangements. Where the operating team describes a wider service than the contract, record the discrepancy for clarification before finalising the invoice position.

A practical example

An Indian team delivering work for an overseas group company should establish which entity receives the service and what the contract actually requires, rather than relying on the payer’s address.

For the group-company example, identify whether a central procurement team is acting for itself or arranging work for another entity, using the actual documents and business explanation. A shared group email address or central payment account may leave that question unresolved. The evidence file should show the basis for the identified recipient rather than simply repeating the invoice heading.

Scope and fees

The conclusion is fact- and period-specific. Foreign-country tax advice, treaty opinions and refund applications are included only if expressly scoped.

The proposal identifies the transactions and periods covered, client approvals, query support and professional fees. Government charges and external certifications are separate unless expressly included.

The handover states the service and period reviewed, assumptions, supporting records and implications for the agreed invoicing or reporting task. Assign separate owners to withholding, related-party pricing and foreign-tax questions where relevant. Changes in the contract, delivery model or participating establishments should be flagged before applying the same conclusion to later invoices.