Service tax on Legal consultancy servi

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

Dear Experts,

The legal consultancy service and chartered accountants service are both provided by qualified professionals. The first service is provided by advocates and the later by Chartered accountants. But a thought came in my mind as to why Legal service is brought under reverse charge but the chartered accountants service is not included. Please share your views in this regard.

AI Summary

Legal consultancy reverse charge: advocates often exempt while non-advocate professional consultancy remains taxable to recipients.
Services by individual advocates or advocate firms are exempt from service tax in many circumstances while consultancy or advisory services rendered by non-advocate professionals (such as chartered accountants, company secretaries, cost accountants or corporate legal firms) are taxable. Where taxable, the obligation to pay may be placed on the business-entity recipient under the reverse charge mechanism, with application framed by notifications and turnover-based conditions.