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Hence The Current Service Tax Rate Is 15%
Hence The Current Service Tax Rate Is 15%
Introduction:
Service tax is a tax which is payable on services provided by the service provider. Just
like excise duty is payable on goods manufactured, in the same way service tax is
payable on service provided. Service tax is payable by the provider of the service to the
Government of India, but the service provider can also collect this tax from the
consumer of service i.e. the recipient of service and deposit it with the Government. The
provisions relating to Service Tax were brought into force with effect from 1st July
1994. It extends to the whole of India except the state of Jammu & Kashmir.
Rates
From 1st June 2016 onward the new rate of service tax is 15% due to the introduction
of Krishi kalyan Cess @0.5%.Earlier, till 31st May 2015 the service tax rate was
12.36%.12% was the basic rate, 2% was Education Cess and 1% was Secondary and
Higher Education Cess. The rate (12.36%) was changed from 1st June 2015 to 14%.And
again it was increased to 14.5% by introducing Swachh Bharat Tax @0.5% from
15th Nov 2015.
Service tax Basic Education Secondary & Swach Bharat Krishi Kalyan Total
Rates/Date Rates Cess Higher Cess Cess service tax
of (on Basic Education Cess (On taxable ( On Taxable rates
service Rate) (On Basic Rate) value of value of
tax services) services)
Service was not defined prior to 1st July 2012. In fact in the case of Magus Construction
Pvt. Ltd. V/s. Union of India 2008 (11) S.T.R. 225 (Gau), the Assam High Court defined
service as follows –
“an act of helpful activity, an act of doing something useful, rendering assistance or
help. Service does not involve supply of goods; “service” rather connotes transformation
of use/user of goods as a result of voluntary intervention of “service provider” and is an
intangible commodity in the form of human effort. To have “service”, there must be a
“service provider” rendering services to some other person (s), who shall be recipient of
such 'service’”.
But now service has been defined in Sec.65B(BB) of Chapter V of the Finance Act,
1994.
“Service means any activity carried out by a person for another for consideration, and
includes a declared service, but shall not include—
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Explanation 1 — For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that nothing contained
in this clause shall
apply to––
(A) the functions performed by the Members of Parliament, Members of State
Legislative, Members of Panchayats, Members of Municipalities and Members of other
local authorities who receive any consideration in performing the functions of that
office as such member; or
(B) the duties performed by any person who holds any post in pursuance of the
provisions of the Constitution in that capacity; or
(C) the duties performed by any person as a Chairperson or a Member or a Director in a
body established by the Central Government or State Governments or local authority
and who is not deemed as an employee before the commencement of this section.
Explanation 2–– For the purposes of this clause, transaction in money shall not include
any activity relating to the use of money or its conversion by cash or by any other mode,
from one form, currency or denomination to another form, currency or denomination
for which a separate consideration is charged.
(a) an unincorporated association or a body of persons, as the case may be, and a
member thereof shall be treated as distinct persons;
(b) an establishment of a person in the taxable territory and any of his other
establishment in a non‐taxable territory shall be treated as establishments of distinct
persons.
Article 265 of the Constitution lays down that no tax shall be levied or collected except
by the authority of law. Schedule VII divides this subject into three categories
Entry 97 of the Union list is the residuary entry and empowers the Central Government
to levy tax on any matter not enumerated in state list or the concurrent list.
In 1994, the service tax was levied by the central government under the power granted
by the entry 97 of the union list.
Thereafter in 2003 the government has passed the constitution (88th Amendment Act,
2003) which provides for the levy of service tax by the centre through the insertion of
article 268A to the constitution. In addition to article 268A, entry 92C has been inserted
in the union list to make the enactment relating to service tax a subject matter of union
list.
Students may note that entry No.92C has not yet been made effective by the parliament
and service tax is still governed by the entry 97 of the union list.
Service tax is an indirect tax levied on certain services provided by certain categories of
persons including companies, association, firms, body of individuals etc. Service sector
contributes about 64% to the GDP. Services constitute heterogeneous spectrum of
economic activities. Today services cover wide range of activities such as management,
banking, insurance, hospitality, consultancy, communication, administration,
entertainment, research and development activities forming part of retailing sector.
Service sector is today occupying the centre stage of the Indian economy. It has become
an Industry by itself. In the contemporary world, development of service sector has
become synonymous with the advancement of the economy. Economics hold the view
that there is no distinction between the consumption of goods and consumption of
services as both satisfy the human needs.
Although service tax was introduced in the year 1994, till date there is no independent
legislation on service tax. The list of legislations governing service tax are given
here under -
ii. The Finance Act, 2003 (Chapter - VA, Sections 96A to 96I)
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Service tax Rules deals with the procedural aspects of registration; taxable
service to be provided on the invoice, bill or challan; maintenance of records;
procedure for payment of service tax; submission of returns; form of appeals to
Commissioner of Central Excise (Appeals), Appellate Tribunal and procedure
and facilities for large taxpayers.
These Rules deal with the procedure for obtaining an advance ruling.
These Rules prescribe the manner in determining the value of taxable services in
certain cases.
These Rules deal with the procedure for provisional attachment of property when
proceedings for recovery of tax are pending before the authorities. The
provisional attachment of property should be to the extent it requires to protect
the interest of revenue, i.e. the value of property attached should be equivalent to the
amount of pending revenue. The movable property of a person should be
attached only if the immovable property available for attachment is not sufficient
to protect the interest of revenue. These Rules will not be applicable to
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These Rules deal with publication of names and particulars of persons who have
contravened the provisions relating to service tax with the intent of evading
payment of service tax and persons who have been adjudged to pay but has not
paid any amount, payable under the Finance Act.
These rules have been issued for the purpose of collection of service tax and
determination of rate of service tax.
These Rules specify the manner to determine the taxing jurisdiction for a service.
TAXABILITY OF SERVICES
Service Tax is levied vide Finance Act, 1994 (the Act). The Finance Act, 1994 applies all
over India except the state of Jammu & Kashmir. With effect from 1st July 2012, a new
charging Section 66B has been inserted by the Finance Act 2012.
Section 66B provides that there shall be levied a tax (hereinafter referred to as the
service tax) at the rate of Fourteen per cent on the value of all services, other than those
services specified in the negative list, provided or agreed to be provided in the taxable
territory by one person to another and collected in such manner as may be prescribed.
The taxation of services is completely overhauled from positive approach or selective
services to negative list approach. Now, no classification of services is required for the
purpose of taxability. Moreover, only services rendered in taxable territory are taxable
for which Place of Provision of Service Rules, 2012 (‘PPSR’) are prescribed and with this
Import of Services and Export of Services Rules has been rescinded.
(A)DECLARED SERVICES
Section 66E specifies nine activities or transactions which are declared to be covered as
‘service’. Suchactivities include:–
A Negative List approach to taxation of services has been introduced vide sections 66B,
66C, 66D, 66E and 66F in Chapter V of the Finance Act. The services specified in the
‘Negative List’ (section 66D) will remain outside the tax net. All other services, except
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those specifically exempted by the exercise of powers under section 93(1) of the
Finance Act, 1994, would thus be chargeable to service tax. Negative list approach to
taxation of services is effective from July 1, 2012.
Sec.66B of the Finance Act deals with taxability of services or charge of service tax on
and after the Finance Act, 2012.
“There shall be levied a tax (hereinafter referred to as the service tax) at the rate of
twelve percent on the value of all services, other than those services specified in the
negative list, provided or agreed to be provided in the taxable territory by one person to
another and collected in such manner as may be prescribed.”
Hence a taxable service should be –
provided or agreed to be provided by a person to another
Services which have only been agreed to be provided but are yet to be
provided are taxable. Receipt of advances for services agreed to be
Earlier, there was a list of services to determine if the service provided is taxable or not.
Now it is not so because of the negative listing. Hence the following questions need to
be posed by the service provider to determine whether it is a service.
Doing an activity for another person?
Doing such activity for consideration?
The activity does not consist of transfer of title in goods or immovable property;
deemed sales; transaction only in money or actionable claims; activity in the
nature of court fees for a court or tribunal; service provided by an employee to an
employer or any other exempted activity.
Section 66D specify the following list of services under the negative list: –
(a) Services by Government or a local authority excluding the following services to the
extent they are not covered elsewhere –
(i) Services by the Department of Posts by way of speed post, express parcel post, life
insurance and agency services provided to a person other than Government.
(ii) Services in relation to an aircraft or a vessel, inside or outside the precincts of a port
or an airport.
(iii) transport of goods or passengers.
(iv) support services, other than services covered under clauses (i) to (iii) above,
provided to business entities.
(b) services by the Reserve Bank of India.
(c) services by a foreign diplomatic mission located in India.
services provided by any person for the official use of a foreign diplomatic mission has
been exempted vide Notification No. 27/2012 S.T., dated 20.6.2012 subject to
prescribed conditions.
(d) services relating to agriculture or agricultural produce by way of–
(i) agricultural operations directly related to production of any agricultural produce
including cultivation, harvesting, threshing, plant protection or testing.
(ii) supply of farm labour.
(iii) processes carried out at an agricultural farm including tending, pruning, cutting,
harvesting, drying, cleaning, trimming, sun drying, fumigating, curing, sorting, grading,
cooling or bulk packaging and such like operations which do not alter the essential
characteristics of agricultural produce but make it only marketable for the primary
market.
(iv) renting or leasing of agro machinery or vacant land with or without a structure
incidental to its use.
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POINT OF TAXATION
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The basic purpose for introduction of Point of Taxation Rules, 2011 is to bring clarity
and certainty in matter of levy and collection of service tax in situations of:
- Change of rate of service tax
- Imposition of service tax on new services
- Continuous supply of services
Moreover, POT rules, 2011 have been introduced to bring synchronization between
service tax and other taxes like Excise Duty and VAT which work on accrual basis and
this is a step towards implementation of GST.
Point of taxation means the point in time when a service shall be provided or deemed to
have been provided.
This Point of time will determine rate of service tax and due date of payment of service
tax.
As per rule 2A of POT Rules, “Date of payment” shall be the earlier of the dates on which
the payment is
entered in the books of accounts or is credited to the bank account of the person liable
to pay tax:
(A) the date of payment shall be the date of credit in the bank account when—
(i) there is a change in effective rate of tax or when a service is taxed for the first
time during the period between such entry in books of accounts and its credit in
the bank account; and
(ii) the credit in the bank account is after four working days from the date when
there is change in effective rate of tax or a service is taxed for the first time; and
(iii) the payment is made by way of an instrument which is credited to a bank
account, if any rule requires determination of the time or date of payment
received, the expression “date of payment” shall be construed to mean such date
on which the payment is received”.
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The ‘Place of Provision of Services Rules, 2012’ specifies the manner to determine the
taxing jurisdiction for a service. Earlier, the task of identifying the taxing jurisdiction
was
largely limited in the context of import or export of services. For this purpose rules
were
formulated which handled the subject of place of provision of services somewhat
indirectly, confining to define the circumstances in which a provision of service would
constitute import or export.
Henceforth, the new rules will determine the place where a service shall be deemed to
be provided, in terms of section 66C of the Finance Act, 2012, read with section 94
(hhh) of Chapter V of the Finance Act, 1994. Under Section 66B, a service is taxable
only when, inter alia, it is “provided (or agreed to be provided) in the taxable territory”.
Thus, the taxability of a service will be determined based on the “place of its provision”.
The ‘Place of Provision of Services Rules, 2012’ will replace the ‘Export of Services,
Rules, 2005’ and ‘Taxation of Services (Provided from outside India and received in
India) Rules, 2006.
These rules are primarily meant for persons who deal in cross-border services. They
will also be equally applicable for those who have operations with suppliers or
customers in
the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
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Usually service provider is liable to pay service tax for the services provided except for
the few services covered under reverse charge, under which service receiver is liable to
pay service tax.
This mechanism has not been altogether a new mechanism. This mechanism was
prevalent in the earlier service tax law as well. However scope of this mechanism has
been enlarged in a greater way. Furthermore a new concept of “partial reverse charge”
has been introduced where service provider as well as service receiver is made liable to
pay service tax in specified percentage for a particular service
In 2012, Govt. of India has changed the overall taxation of Service tax and that time they
had presented a different taxation method to levy service tax on services which was
negative List Based taxation method. All the services except services provide in
Negative List and Exempted Services are taxable in India. This year in the Finance Bill
2015 Govt. of India again added some services in the list of taxable services and deletes
the same from the list of Exempted services and made taxable for the first time. These
are further taxable through the route of Reverse Charge mechanism.
3. From 01st April 2015, Services by way of supply of manpower or security service has
been brought under full reverse charge. Earlier it was under partial reverse charge and
Service provider was liable to pay 25% of service tax and service receiver was liable to
pay 75% of service tax.
4. Definition of Support Service has been deleted and All Service except Renting of
immovable property, and services specified in sub- clauses (i), (ii) and (iii) of clause (a)
of section 66D of the Finance Act, 1994 provided By Any Government or Local authority
to business entity will be covered under Reverse Charge mechanism unless any service
exempt under anywhere. These Changes will be notified by Central Govt. through
Gaztted Notification.
Person Liable: Any person who pays or is liable to pay freight either himself or through
his agent if such person is:
any factory registered under or governed by the Factories Act, 1948 (63 of
1948); or
any society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 (21 of 1860) or
under any other law for the time being in force in any part of India; or
any co-operative society established by or under any law; or
any dealer of excisable goods, who is registered under the Central Excise Act,
1944 (1 of 1944) or the rules made there under; or
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Further transport of household goods has been excluded from the reverse charge
preview as such services is availed by individuals and create confusion.
Services of Director of a ‘Body Corporate’ has been included in the purview of Director
Services, w.e.f 11.07.2014. Service provided by a director incapacity of an employee of
the Company or Body Corporate shall not be chargeable to service tax. Deduction of TDS
under salary head can establish the same.
Where any taxable service is provided by a person located in non–taxable territory and
as per the Place of Provision Rules 2012; Place of provision of the service is determined
to be in the taxable territory, such service will be considered as Import of Service.
In relation to service provided or agreed to be provided by a person involving an
aggregator in any manner, the person liable to pay tax is the aggregator of the service
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(or any person representing the aggregator for any purpose or designated if aggregator
does not have a physical presence in the taxable territory).
Thanking you,
Yours Sincerely,
Sunita Yadav
Reg no. 421218854/07/2012