Photography and event management are service businesses with one twist that trips people up: when you work at an event in another state, the place-of-supply rules can change which GST you charge. Otherwise it’s a clean 18% service once you cross the threshold.
The rate and threshold
Photography, videography and event-management services are taxable at 18%. As a service provider, you must register once turnover crosses ₹20 lakh in a financial year. Wedding and event work adds up faster than many freelancers expect, so it’s worth watching your annual figure.
Out-of-state events and place of supply
Event-related services are often taxed by reference to where the event is held. So a Vadodara event manager running a function in Rajasthan may be looking at an inter-state supply, with the place of supply being the event location. This decides whether you charge CGST+SGST or IGST — and getting it wrong misstates your returns. We apply the right rule for your event locations.
Packages, goods and input credit
- Bundled packages (shoot + album + prints) can raise composite/mixed-supply questions
- Selling physical albums/prints is a goods supply at its own rate
- Registration lets you claim input credit on equipment, travel and rentals
- Corporate clients often prefer GST-registered vendors for the input credit