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Rule 33 of the CGST Rules, 2017

From the IndiaAuditLens Law Library

GST›CGST Rules, 2017›Chapter IV, Determination of Value of Supply

At a glance

Entitlement and conditions

  • Rule 33(i)–(iii)The exclusion requires authorised payment to a third party as the recipient’s pure agent, separate identification in the invoice and a third-party supply additional to the supplier’s own services. All conditions must be satisfied despite the Chapter’s other valuation rules.

Procedure, powers and definitions

  • Rule 33, ExplanationA pure agent contracts to incur costs for the recipient, neither intends to hold nor holds title, does not use the procurement for its own interest and recovers only the actual procurement cost in addition to its own service charge.
  • Rule 33, illustrationThe incorporation illustration distinguishes the firm’s service fee from registration and name-approval fees compulsorily levied on the company and paid on its behalf.

Rule 33 excludes qualifying pure-agent expenditure from supply value, overriding the other methods in the Chapter. The supplier must act on the recipient’s authority, separately show the payment and procure the third-party supply in addition to its own services. The definition also requires a contractual arrangement, no title or own use, and recovery limited to the actual amount spent.[1]

Text

The text below is the rule as served by the CBIC tax information portal on 17 September 2026, with the portal's own amendment footnote markers (shown as small numerals before a bracket) and its footnotes.[1] The Rules as published in the Gazette of India is the legal source.

Rule 33, verbatim (show)

Rule 33. Value of supply of services in case of pure agent.-

Notwithstanding anything contained in the provisions of this Chapter, the expenditure or costs incurred by a supplier as a pure agent of the recipient of supply shall be excluded from the value of supply, if all the following conditions are satisfied, namely,-

(i) the supplier acts as a pure agent of the recipient of the supply, when he makes the payment to the third party on authorisation by such recipient;

(ii) the payment made by the pure agent on behalf of the recipient of supply has been separately indicated in the invoice issued by the pure agent to the recipient of service; and (iii) the supplies procured by the pure agent from the third party as a pure agent of the recipient of supply are in addition to the services he supplies on his own account.

Explanation. - For the purposes of this rule, the expression "pure agent" means a person who-

(a) enters into a contractual agreement with the recipient of supply to act as his pure agent to incur expenditure or costs in the course of supply of goods or services or both;

(b) neither intends to hold nor holds any title to the goods or services or both so procured or supplied as pure agent of the recipient of supply;

(c) does not use for his own interest such goods or services so procured; and (d) receives only the actual amount incurred to procure such goods or services in addition to the amount received for supply he provides on his own account. Illustration. - Corporate services firm A is engaged to handle the legal work pertaining to the incorporation of Company B. Other than its service fees, A also recovers from B, registration fee and approval fee for the name of the company paid to the Registrar of Companies. The fees charged by the Registrar of Companies for the registration and approval of the name are compulsorily levied on B. A is merely acting as a pure agent in the payment of those fees. Therefore, A' s recovery of such expenses is a disbursement and not part of the value of supply made by A to B.

Questions to answer on the file

Questions a reviewer answers from the engagement file, grouped by the part of the rule they come from. They describe what the rule asks; they do not decide it.

Pure-agent exclusion conditions 33

Questions to answer on the file10 questions
Ticks stay in this browser only.
Provisions connected to Rule 33
ProvisionConnectionWords that tie them
Rule 27Rule 27 overridden by this provision33 "Notwithstanding anything contained in the provisions of this Chapter"
Rule 28Rule 28 overridden by this provision33 "Notwithstanding anything contained in the provisions of this Chapter"
Rule 29Rule 29 overridden by this provision33 "Notwithstanding anything contained in the provisions of this Chapter"
Rule 30Rule 30 overridden by this provision33 "Notwithstanding anything contained in the provisions of this Chapter"
Rule 31Rule 31 overridden by this provision33 "Notwithstanding anything contained in the provisions of this Chapter"
Rule 32Rule 32 overridden by this provision33 "Notwithstanding anything contained in the provisions of this Chapter"
Rule 32ARule 32A overridden by this provision33 "Notwithstanding anything contained in the provisions of this Chapter"
Rule 34Rule 34 overridden by this provision33 "Notwithstanding anything contained in the provisions of this Chapter"
Rule 35Rule 35 overridden by this provision33 "Notwithstanding anything contained in the provisions of this Chapter"

Circulars and notifications

Circulars and notifications in the CBIC repository that cite this rule, newest first, by number, date and subject. A listing here does not say what an instrument decides; read the instrument.

Circulars (1)

NumberDateSubject
Circular No. 115/34/2019-GST11 October 2019Clarification on issue of GST on Airport levies.

Unsettled questions

The words of Rule 33 do not answer this question. Where one decides a matter on the file, the answer depends on the position taken on it.

  1. No additional silent question identified; unresolved evidence remains open and legal classification is reserved to the auditor where specified

See also

References

  1. Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. "Rule 33. Value of supply of services in case of pure agent". Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017, CBIC tax information portal. Retrieved 17 September 2026.

External links