Reverse charge for arbitral services places service tax liability on recipient business entities located in taxable territory exceeding turnover threshold.
Service tax on services provided by an arbitral tribunal, including individual arbitrators, is payable by the service recipient under the reverse charge mechanism when the recipient is a business entity located in the taxable territory whose turnover in the preceding financial year exceeds the prescribed threshold; services to non business persons or business entities below the threshold remain exempt under the exemption notification.

Reverse charge liability for services of arbitral tribunals places tax obligation on recipient business entities in taxable territory.
Services provided by an arbitral tribunal, including individual arbitrators, to a business entity located in the taxable territory with turnover above the exemption threshold are taxable under the reverse charge mechanism, with the recipient liable to discharge the service tax; references to arbitral tribunal include the natural persons composing it and recent amendments do not change this liability position.

Krishi Kalyan Cess imposed on taxable services with specified accounting codes for collection and refunds.
Krishi Kalyan Cess is imposed on all taxable services from 1 June 2016, excluding fully exempt or otherwise not liable services, and is chargeable in addition to service tax. The Controller General of Accounts has allocated a new Minor Head 507 (Krishi Kalyan Cess) with specified sub heads for Tax Collection, Other Receipts, Interest, Refunds (deduct) and Penalties, and the trade notice reproduces the circular providing the numerical accounting codes for these entries.

Reverse charge on arbitral services applies: business entity recipients meeting turnover threshold must pay service tax on tribunal services.
Reverse charge applies to services provided by an arbitral tribunal, including individual arbitrators, where the recipient is a business entity located in the taxable territory and exceeds the statutory turnover threshold in the preceding year; services to non-business recipients or to businesses below the threshold are exempt.

Refund certification requirement enables provisional payment to exporters after statutory auditor certificate under CENVAT rules.
Scheme supplements existing notifications to expedite refunds for exporters of services whose claims under CENVAT rules remained undisposed by the prior cutoff; remanded claims are excluded. Provisional payment is administratively available upon prescribed certificate submission: statutory auditors sign for companies, chartered accountants for non companies, in the specified annexure format. Professional disclaimers required by audit guidance do not invalidate the certificate if the core annexure averments are present.

Krishi Kalyan Cess accounting codes assigned to segregate tax collections, interest, refunds and penalties under service tax framework.
Accounting and reporting arrangements were prescribed for the Krishi Kalyan Cess, effective from the commencement of Chapter VI of the Finance Act, 2016, and a new Minor Head "507 Krishi Kalyan Cess" with sub heads for tax collection, interest receipts, deducting refunds, and penalties was allocated by the Controller General of Accounts for use in government accounting.

Indirect Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme enables declarants to settle pending appeals via prescribed forms and deposit timelines.
The Indirect Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme, 2016 allows appellants before Commissioner (Appeals) on 1 March 2016 to file a declaration with a designated authority under Rules that prescribe Form 1 for declaration, Form 2 for acknowledgement, Form 3 for deposit reporting (deposit within a fortnight of acknowledgement and report within seven days), and Form 4 for issuance of a discharge order; a named Assistant Commissioner is authorized as designated authority with secretarial support provided by the Superintendent, Tax Arrear Recovery.

Krishi Kalyan Cess imposed on taxable services, with exemptions, CENVAT credit limits and reverse charge application.
A Krishi Kalyan Cess is levied as an additional charge on taxable services effective 1 June 2016 to finance agricultural initiatives; its value is determined under the Service Tax (Determination of Value) Rules, 2006, and it is payable in addition to existing service tax. Notification No.28/2016 exempts services already exempt or not leviable to service tax, and the CBEC has prescribed accounting heads. CENVAT Credit amendments permit credit of the cess on input services but restrict utilisation to payment of the cess; reverse charge, composite rate option, rebate for exports and SEZ refund provisions are provided by separate notifications.

Enactment of Finance Act makes Budget 2016-17 amendments effective from assent, including specified service tax notifications.
Enactment of the Finance Act (28 of 2016) occurred on presidential assent dated 14 May 2016 and the Act has been published in the Gazette. Certain Union Budget 2016-17 amendments are effective from that assent date and include notification Nos. 13/2016 ST and 14/2016 ST and specified entries in notification Nos. 9/2016 ST and 10/2016 ST dated 1 March 2016.

Krishi Kalyan Cess accounting codes allocated to record levy, interest, refunds and penalties for taxable services.
Krishi Kalyan Cess is imposed on all taxable services except those fully exempt or otherwise not liable; the Controller General of Accounts has allocated a dedicated Minor Head for the cess and new sub heads to record tax collections, interest receipts, refund deductions, and penalties.

Reverse charge mechanism applies to arbitral tribunal services; recipient business in taxable territory must discharge service tax liability.
Services provided by an arbitral tribunal, including its individual arbitrators, are taxable and subject to the reverse charge mechanism where the recipient is a business entity located in the taxable territory with turnover exceeding the small-turnover threshold in the preceding financial year; services to non-business recipients or businesses below that threshold remain exempt under the relevant notification.

E-payment of refunds mandated through RTGS/NEFT to beneficiary bank accounts with consolidated cheques and UTR reconciliation.
Procedure mandates electronic payment of sanctioned refunds/rebates through authorized banks using RTGS/NEFT, with claimants providing a one-time bank-certified authorization. Designated Divisional Deputy/Assistant Commissioners will issue consolidated cheques and forward signed statements (Annexure-B), cheques, and soft copies to the authorized bank, which will credit beneficiary accounts after deducting applicable charges. Banks must provide UTRs and periodic scrolls for monthly reconciliation by the PAO, who will match scrolls with issued cheques and report discrepancies for verification; self-credit provisions continue for eligible assessees.

Extension of filing deadline for service tax ST-3 returns granted due to ACES access difficulties, allowing short additional filing time.
An administrative order under sub rule(4) of rule 7 of the Service Tax Rules, 1994, grants a short extension of time for submission of Form ST-3 for the period 1 October 2015 to 31 March 2016, citing assessees' inability to access the ACES application on the original due date and permitting late electronic filing within the brief extension window.

Taxation of government-provided services: service tax applies where payment is consideration; point of taxation is due or payment, whichever is earlier.
Services by Government or a local authority to business entities are taxable where payment is made as consideration, subject to specified exemptions. The point of taxation is the earlier of the date any payment becomes due as per the invoice/bill/challan or the date of payment. Interest on deferred payments is includible in value. CENVAT Credit for one time assignment charges may be availed evenly over three years, while credit for periodic payments is available in the year paid; prescribed documents such as challans evidence credit entitlement.

Service tax on legal services: stay orders prompt government to seek consolidated review and vacatur through transfer petitions.
Stay orders restraining the levy of service tax on legal services provided by Senior Advocates have been issued by multiple High Courts. The Board has directed engagement of the Attorney General to seek vacatur and aggregation by filing transfer petitions, and requests urgent transmission of all relevant High Court files from Zones to enable filing.

E-payment deadline extension allows electronic tax payments until midnight, with extended bank hours for payment facilitation.
Designated agency bank branches conducting government business were directed to keep counters open full day on 30 March and until 8:00 p.m. on 31 March, while electronic transactions would continue until midnight on 31 March; assessees may make e-payments up to midnight on 31 March and trade associations are requested to inform members of these temporary banking-hour and e-payment arrangements.

Extended e-payment deadline permits electronic tax payments until the extended cutoff, with banks operating longer hours.
Extension of e-payment deadline and of banking hours: designated government-business bank counters will operate for extended hours on the stated dates and electronic transactions will continue until the prescribed cutoff, thereby permitting assessees to make electronic tax payments up to that cutoff. Tax authorities are requested to issue trade/public notices to publicize the extended e-payment hours and extended banking hours to facilitate compliance.

Krishi Kalyan Cess introduced on taxable services, altering credit and compliance obligations for service providers and recipients.
Krishi Kalyan Cess is proposed to be levied on taxable services with effect from 1 June 2016 and input service credit of the cess may be used to discharge the cess on output services. The Finance Bill, 2016 amends Chapter V of the Finance Act to omit certain Negative List entries (notably stage carriage and specified international carriage), relocates specified educational exemptions into the general exemption notification, declares assignment and transfers of radio frequency spectrum as a declared service, and strengthens rule making powers for Point of Taxation. Significant revisions to Cenvat Credit Rules simplify reversal mechanics, broaden capital goods and input definitions, allow certain shipping and spectrum credit treatments, and provide distribution and warehouse mechanisms for input service credit.

Valuation of construction service: builders must value flats given to landowners by comparable sale prices, following Board guidance.
In tri partite development arrangements where a landowner transfers land or development rights to a builder in return for flats, the value of construction service to the landowner is to be determined by reference to the price of similar flats charged by the builder to other purchasers, using comparable sales nearest the date when land or rights are made available; service tax on such construction is payable when possession or rights in the flats are transferred by conveyance, allotment letter or similar instrument.

Leviability of Service Tax on seed testing clarified, circular issued and stakeholders advised to align practices and comply.
Clarifies the leviability of Service Tax on seed testing services effective from 01.07.2012 by reference to Circular No.189/8/2015 (26 November 2015); the circular is forwarded to industry, service providers and field formations for information and necessary compliance to align practices with the clarified tax treatment.