Service Tax Heading

[Rajan Rajan]

Dear Sirs,

We have a proposal to offer below services to the respective departments. We will get payment from them. Will service tax attract on these transactions?Please indicate correct service heading and is there any Exemption to Govt. services?

SERVICES OFFERED:

1. HIRING SERVICES: The various UAV applications include disaster management, aerial photography, event monitoring, VVIP monitoring, pipeline/transmission lines inspection, forest and wildlife monitoring, precision agriculture, geo spatial imaging, Intelligence Surveillance & Reconnaissance (ISR) operations, testing platforms for air borne equipment/systems, as a target for the armed forces training. Our customers would mostly be from Defense like Indian Army, Navy, Air Force, State Police, Paramilitary forces like Border Security Force, Coast Guard.

2. OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE SERVICES: Training of the customer’s personnel would also be one of the services provided. Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul will also be done for a fixed contract period.

[JSW CEMENTLIMITED]

Only services provided to government mentioned in clause 12 and 25 are exempted from service tax which is reproduced as under: If you can classify the services into those specific services mentioned in the respective clauses, you can claim exemption or otherwise service tax would be leviable.

12. Services provided to the Government, a local authority or a governmental authority by way ofconstruction,erection, commissioning, installation, completion, fitting out, repair, maintenance, renovation, or alteration of -

(a) ³⁸[omitted]

(b) a historical monument, archaeological site or remains of national importance, archaeological excavation, or antiquity specified under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 (24 of 1958);

(c) ³⁸[omitted]

(d) canal, dam or other irrigation works;

(e) pipeline, conduit or plant for (i) water supply (ii) water treatment, or (iii) sewerage treatment or disposal; or

(f) ³⁸[omitted]

25. Services provided to Government, a local authority or a governmental authority by way of -

²⁸[(a) water supply, public health, sanitation conservancy, solid waste management or slum improvement and up-gradation; or ]

(b) repair or maintenance of ¹¹[a vessel];

Regards

V.Venkat Raman

AI Summary

Government service exemption applies only to specified categories; otherwise service tax applies to UAV hiring and maintenance. Whether service tax applies to UAV hiring, operation, training and maintenance supplied to government turns on statutory exemptions that apply only to services falling within specified categories. Exempt categories include construction, repair or maintenance of historical monuments, canals, dams, pipelines or plants for water supply, treatment or sewerage, and services in water supply, public health, sanitation, solid waste management, slum improvement and repair or maintenance of vessels. Services not classifiable within these enumerated categories will attract service tax.