CHAPTER I - PRELIMINARY, THE INTEGRATED GOODS AND SERVICES TAX ACT
An Act to make a provision for levy and collection of tax on inter-State supply of goods or services or both by the Central Government and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. BE it enacted by Parliament in the Sixty-eighth Year of the Republic of India as follows:— |
1. (1) This Act may be called the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.
(2) It shall extend to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
(3) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint: Provided that different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this Act and any reference in any such provision to the commencement of this Act shall be construed as a reference to the coming into force of that provision.
2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,––
(1) “Central Goods and Services Tax Act” means the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017;
(2) ‘‘central tax” means the tax levied and collected under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act;
(3) “continuous journey” means a journey for which a single or more than one ticket or invoice is issued at the same time, either by a single supplier of service or through an agent acting on behalf of more than one supplier of service, and which involves no stopover between any of the legs of the journey for which one or more separate tickets or invoices are issued. Explanation.––For the purposes of this clause, the term “stopover” means a place where a passenger can disembark either to transfer to another conveyance or break his journey for a certain period in order to resume it at a later point of time;
(4) “customs frontiers of India” means the limits of a customs area as defined in section 2 of the Customs Act, 1962;
(5) “export of goods” with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means taking goods out of India to a place outside India;
(6) “export of services” means the supply of any service when,––
(i) the supplier of service is located in India;
(ii) the recipient of service is located outside India;
(iii) the place of supply of service is outside India;
(iv) the payment for such service has been received by the supplier of service in convertible foreign exchange; and
(v) the supplier of service and the recipient of service are not merely establishments of a distinct person in accordance with Explanation 1 in section 8;
(7) “fixed establishment” means a place (other than the registered place of business) which is characterised by a sufficient degree of permanence and suitable structure in terms of human and technical resources to supply services or to receive and use services for its own needs;
(8) “Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Act” means the Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Act, 2017;
(9) “Government” means the Central Government;
(10) ‘‘import of goods” with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means bringing goods into India from a place outside India;
(11) ‘‘import of services” means the supply of any service, where––
(i) the supplier of service is located outside India;
(ii) the recipient of service is located in India; and
(iii) the place of supply of service is in India;
(12) “integrated tax” means the integrated goods and services tax levied under this Act;
(13) “intermediary” means a broker, an agent or any other person, by whatever name called, who arranges or facilitates the supply of goods or services or both, or securities, between two or more persons, but does not include a person who supplies such goods or services or both or securities on his own account;
