CHAPTER V
Service Tax
Amendment of Act 32 of 1994
106. In the Finance Act, 1994,—
(A) in section 65B, with effect from such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint,—
(i) in clause (32), after the words “the rules made thereunder”, the words “but does not include radio taxi” shall be inserted;
(ii) after clause (39), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:—
‘(39a) “print media” means,—
(i) “book” as defined in sub-section (1) of section 1 of the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867, [25 of 1867] but does not include business directories, yellow pages and trade catalogues which are primarily meant for commercial purposes;
(ii) “newspaper” as defined in sub-section (1) of section 1 of the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867;’; [25 of 1867]
(B) in section 66D, with effect from such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint,—
(i) for clause (g), the following clause shall be substituted, namely:—
“(g) selling of space for advertisements in print media;”;
(ii) in clause (o), for sub-clause (vi), the following sub-clause shall be substituted, namely:—
“(vi) metered cabs or auto rickshaws;”;
(C) in section 67A, for the Explanation, the following Explanation shall be substituted with effect from such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint, namely:—
“Explanation.— For the purposes of this section, “rate of exchange” means the rate of exchange determined in accordance with such rules as may be prescribed.”;
(D) in section 73, after sub-section (4A), the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely:—
“(4B) The Central Excise Officer shall determine the amount of service tax due under subsection
(2)—
(a) within six months from the date of notice where it is possible to do so, in respect of cases whose limitation is specified as eighteen months in sub-section (1);
(b) within one year from the date of notice, where it is possible to do so, in respect of cases falling under the proviso to sub-section (1) or the proviso to sub-section (4A).”;
(E) in section 80, in sub-section (1), for the words, figures and brackets “section 77 or first proviso to sub-section (1) of section 78”, the words and figures “or section 77” shall be substituted;
(F) in section 82, for sub-section (1), the following sub-section shall be substituted, namely:—
“(1) Where the Joint Commissioner of Central Excise or Additional Commissioner of Central Excise or such other Central Excise officer as may be notified by the Board has reasons to believe that any documents or books or things, which in his opinion shall be useful for or relevant to any proceedings under this Chapter, are secreted in any place, he may authorise in writing any Central Excise officer to search for and seize or may himself search and seize such documents or books or things.”;
(G) in section 83,—
(i) for the words, brackets, figures and letter “sub-section (2) of section 9A”, the words, brackets, figures and letters “sub-section (2A) of section 5A, sub-section (2) of section 9A” shall be substituted;
(ii) for section “15”, the sections “15, 15A, 15B” shall be substituted;
(H) in section 86,——
(i) in sub-section (1A), in clause (i), for the words “by notification in the Official Gazette”, the words “by order” shall be substituted;
(ii) in sub-section (6A), in clause (a), the words “for grant of stay or” shall be omitted;
(I) in section 87, in clause (c),the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:—
“Provided that where the person (hereinafter referred to as predecessor) from whom the service tax or any other sums of any kind, as specified in this section, is recoverable or due, transfers or otherwise disposes of his business or trade in whole or in part, or effects any change in the ownership thereof, in consequence of which he is succeeded in such business or trade by any other person, all goods, in the custody or possession of the person so succeeding may also be attached and sold by such officer empowered by the Central Board of Excise and Customs, after obtaining the written approval of the Commissioner of Central Excise, for the purposes of recovering such service tax or other sums recoverable or due from such predecessor at the time of such transfer or otherwise disposal or change.”;
(J) in section 94, in sub-section (2), for clause (k), the following clauses shall be substituted, namely:—
“(k) imposition, on persons liable to pay service tax, for the proper levy and collection of the tax, of duty of furnishing information, keeping records and the manner in which such records shall be verified;
(l) make provisions for withdrawal of facilities or imposition of restrictions (including restrictions on utilisation of CENVAT credit) on provider of taxable service or exporter, for dealing with evasion of tax or misuse of CENVAT credit;
(m) authorisation of the Central Board of Excise and Customs or Chief Commissioners of Central Excise to issue instructions, for any incidental or supplemental matters for the implementation of the provisions of this Act;
(n) any other matter which by this Chapter is to be or may be prescribed.”;
(K) in section 95, after sub-section (1J), the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely:—
“(1K) If any difficulty arises in giving effect to section 106 of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2014, [32 of 1994] in so far as it relates to amendments made by the said Act, in this Chapter, the Central Government may, by an order, published in the Official Gazette, not inconsistent with the provisions of this Chapter, remove the difficulty:
Provided that no such order shall be made after the expiry of a period of one year from the date on which the Finance (No. 2) Bill, 2014 receives the assent of the President.”;
(L) after section 99, the following section shall be inserted, namely:—
Special provision for taxable services provided by Employees’ State Insurance Corporation
“100. Notwithstanding anything contained in section 66 as it stood prior to the 1st day of July, 2012, no service tax shall be levied or collected in respect of taxable services provided by the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation set up under the Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948, [34 of 1948] during the period prior to the 1st day of July, 2012.”.
Notes on Clauses:
Clause 106 of the Bill seeks to amend certain provisions in Chapter V of the Finance Act, 1994, relating to service tax, in the following manner-
Sub-clause (A) seeks to amend clause (32) of section 65B so as to exclude radio taxi from the definition of “metered cab” and also to insert a new clause (39a) therein to provide for the definition of “print media”, with effect from such date as the Central Government may, by notification, appoint.
Sub-clause (B) seeks to amend section 66D so as to,-
(a) substitute clause (g) and specify sale of space for print media in the negative list of services;
(b) omit “radio taxis” from sub-clause (vi) of clause (o) so as to provide for levy of service tax on services by radio taxis, with effect from such date as the Central Government may, by notification, appoint.
Sub-clause (C) seeks to amend section 67A so as to substitute the Explanation defining the “rate of exchange”, with effect from such date as the Central Government may, by notification, appoint.
Sub-clause (D) seeks to amend section 73 with a view to insert sub-section (4B) to specify a time limit for adjudication, as either six months or one year, depending on the nature of case, to be adhered to where it is possible.
Sub-clause (E) seeks to amend sub-section (1) of section 80 so as to omit the reference to the first proviso to sub-section (1) of section 78.
Sub-clause (F) seeks to amend sub-section (1) of section 82 so as to provide that where the Joint Commissioner of Central Excise or Additional Commissioner of Central Excise or such other Central Excise officer as may be notified by the Board has reasons to believe that any documents or books or things, which in his opinion shall be useful for or relevant to any proceedings under this Chapter, are secreted in any place, he may authorise in writing any Central Excise officer to search for and seize or may himself search and seize such documents or books or things.
Sub-clause (G) seeks to amend section 83 so as to include therein a reference to sub-section (2A) of section 5A, section 15A and section 15B of the Central Excise Act.
Sub-clause (H) seeks to amend clause (i) of sub-section (1A) of section 86 of the Finance Act, 1994 so as to enable the Board to constitute a Committee by issuing an order instead of a notification to be published in the Official Gazette. It also seeks to amend said section to omit the words “for grant of stay or” in clause (a) of sub-section (6A) thereof.
Sub-clause (I) seeks to amend section 87 with a view to insert a proviso in clause (c), so as to provide for recovery of dues of a predecessor from the assets of a successor.
Sub-clause (J) seeks to amend sub-section (2) of section 94 relating to power to make rules.
Sub-clause (K) seeks to amend section 95 of the said Act so as to empower the Central Government to issue orders for removal of difficulty in case of certain provisions inserted by the proposed legislation in this Chapter, up to one year from the date of enactment of the Finance (No.2) Bill, 2014.
Sub-clause (L) seeks to insert section 100 to provide for retrospective exemption in case of taxable services provided by the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation, prior to the 1st day of July, 2012.
