TRANSPORT OF PASSENGER SERVICES.

[Mr. M. GOVINDARAJAN]

                        Rule 11 of Place of Provision of Service Rules, 2012 provides that the place of provision of passenger transportation service shall be the place where the passengers embarks on the conveyance for a continuous journey.  Rule 2(d) defines the term ‘continuous journey’ as a journey for which a single or more than one ticket or invoice is issued at the same time, either by one service provider or through one agent acting on behalf of more than one service provider and which involves no stop over between any of the legs of journey for which one or more separate invoices are issued.

                        Rule 2(g) defines the term ‘leg of journey’ as a part of the journey that begins where passengers embark or disembark the conveyance, or where it is stopped to allow for its servicing or refueling and ends where it is next stopped for any of those purposes.  ‘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.   All stopovers do not cause a break in continuous journey.   Only such stopovers will be relevant for which one or more separate tickets are issued. 

                        The Education Guide on Taxation of Services issued by the Department gives some examples to explain the rules in respect of transport of passenger services as in the following table:

Single Ticket (No stopover)

 

Sl. No.	Journey	Place of provision	Taxability
1	Mumbai – Delhi	Mumbai	Yes, Mumbai being the place of embarkation
2	Mumbai – Delhi - Jaipur	Mumbai	Yes, Mumbai, being the place of embarkation for the continuous journey
3	Mumbai – Delhi – London _ Delhi - London	Mumbai	-do-
4	Delhi – London – New York – London – New York	Delhi	Yes, New Delhi, being the place of provision for continuous journey with single return ticket
5	Delhi – London – New York	Delhi	-do-
6	New York – London – Delhi	New York	No, New York is place of provision for continuous journey with single return ticket
7	New York – London – Delhi – Mumbai – Delhi – London – New York	New York	-do-
8	Delhi – Jammu - Delhi	Delhi	Yes, Delhi is the place of provision for continuous journey
9	Jammu – Delhi – Jammu	Jammu	No, Jammu is the place of provision for continuous journey with single return ticket.

More than one ticket for a journey:

                        In this the ticket may be issued by a single service provider or by a single agent, for more than one service providers.

 

Sl. No.	Journey	Place of provision	Taxability
1	Delhi – Bangkok- Delhi; Bangalore – Bali - Bangkok	Delhi is place of provision   Bangkok is place of provision	Taxable Service   Non taxable service since place of provision is not in taxable service
2	Delhi – New York – Delhi New York – Boston – New York	Delhi is place of provision   New York is place of provision	Taxable Service   Non taxable service since place of provision is not in taxable service
3	London – Delhi – London; Delhi – Chandigarh Chandigarh – Amritsar; Amritsar - Delhi	London is place of provision Delhi is place of provision   Chandigarh is place of provision Amritsar is place of provision	Non taxable service   Taxable Service   Taxable Service   Taxable Service
4	Delhi – Jammu; Jammu - Delhi	Delhi is place of provision Jammu is place of provision	Taxable Service Non taxable service
5	Jammu – Delhi – Jammu; Delhi – Bangkok – Delhi	Jammu is place of provision Delhi is place of provision	Non taxable service   Taxable service.
6	Jammu – Delhi;   Delhi – Bangkok – Delhi; Delhi – Lucknow; Lucknow – Jammu	Jammu is place of provision Delhi is place of provision   Delhi is place of provision Lucknow is place of provision	Non taxable service   Taxable Service   Taxable Service Taxable Service

 

INVOICE:

                        In case the provider of taxable service is providing the service of transport of passenger, an invoice, a bill or as the case may be, challan shall include ticket in any form by whatever name called and whether or not containing registration number of the provider of service and address of the recipient of service but containing other information in such documents as required under  Rule 4A of Service Tax Rules, 1994. taxmanagementindia.com

CENVAT CREDIT RULES:

                      Rule 2 (a) of CENVAT credit defines the term ‘capital goods’  Clause (C) of Rule 2 defines  the term ‘capital goods’ means motor vehicle designed to carry passengers including their chassis, registered in the name of the provider of service, when used for providing output service of-

                    (i)  Transportation of passengers; or

                    (ii) Renting of such motor vehicle; or

                    (iii)  Imparting motor driving skills.

NEGATIVE LIST:

                      Section 66D gives the negative list of service tax.   Section 66D (o) provides the negative list for transport of passenger services which is detailed as below:

                       Service of transportation of passengers, with or without accompanied belongings, by—

                (i) a stage carriage;

                (ii) railways in a class other than—

                    (A) first class; or

                    (B) an air-conditioned coach;

                (iii) metro, monorail or tramway;

                (iv) inland waterways;

                (v) public transport, other than predominantly for tourism purpose, in a  vessel, between places located in India; and

                (vi) metered cabs, radio taxis or auto rickshaws

EXEMPTION: 

                        Vide Notification No. 25/2012-ST, dated 20.06.2012 the Central Government exempts the passengers transport services as detailed below:

• Clause 22(a) – Services provided by way of giving on hire to a state transport undertaking a motor vehicle meant to carry more than 12 passengers;
• Clause 23 – Transport of passengers with or without accompanied belongings by-

-          Air, embarking from or terminating in an airport located in the State of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim or Tripura or Bagdorga located in West Bengal;

-          A contract carriage for the transportation of passengers excluding tourism, conducted tour, chart or hire; or

-          Ropeway cable car or aerial tramway.

 Vide Notification No. 26/2012-ST, dated 20.06.2012, the Central Government exempts the taxable service of the description specified in Column (2) of the table below, from so much of the service tax leviable thereon under Section 65B of the Act, as in excess of the service tax calculated on a value which is equivalent to a percentage specified in the corresponding entry in Column (3) of the said table, of the amount charged by such service providers for providing the said taxable service; unless specified otherwise, subject to the relevant conditions specified in the correspondence entry in Column (2) of the said table:

Sl. No.	Description of taxable service	%age	CONDITIONS
(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)
1	Transport of passengers with or without accompanied belongings by rail	30%	NIL
2	Transport of passengers by air with or without accompanied belongings	40%	CENVAT credit on inputs and capital goods, used for providing the taxable service has not been taken under the provisions of CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004
3	Renting of motor vehicles designed to carry passengers	40%	-d0-

                        The transportation of passengers services is taxable except those come under the negative list and exemption notifications.  The threshold exemption of Rs.10 lakhs is applicable to these service providers.