Charitable activities definition narrowed; enhanced exemption removed while a basic threshold exemption continues to apply.
The definition of charitable activities is narrowed by deleting clause (k)(v) that extended exemption to services advancing "any other object of general public utility," removing the expanded exemption for such services while preserving the existing lower threshold exemption for charitable services under the notification regime.

Exemption withdrawal for repair and maintenance services to government aircrafts removes prior tax relief for such services.
Notification No. 25/2012 ST dated June 20, 2012, as amended by Notification No. 3/2013 dated March 1, 2013, withdraws the exemption previously available for services provided to the Government, a local authority or a governmental authority by way of repair or maintenance of aircraft, so that such services to government entities are no longer covered by that exemption.

Exemption withdrawal for vehicle parking services to the general public announced; suppliers must now treat such parking as taxable.
Exemption for vehicle parking services to the general public has been withdrawn by Notification No. 25/2012 ST dated June 20, 2012 as amended by Notification No. 3/2013 dated March 1, 2013, thereby treating such parking services as taxable and requiring suppliers to adjust compliance and charging practices accordingly.

Goods Transportation Agency exemptions clarified for specified consignments and goods, aligning treatment with rail and vessel transport.
Amendments harmonize exemptions so that GTA services by way of transport in a goods carriage remain exempt only for specified categories: agricultural produce; consignments with gross transport charges below the single carriage threshold; consignments for a single consignee below the single consignee threshold; specified foodstuffs (excluding alcoholic beverages); chemical fertilizer and oilcakes; registered newspapers and magazines; relief materials for disaster victims; and defence or military equipment.

Exemption harmonization for rail and vessel transport narrows covered consignments while preserving GTA benefits for key goods.
Harmonization of exemptions aligns rail and vessel carriage with goods transportation agency (GTA) services: exemptions for petroleum and petroleum products, postal mails and household effects by rail and vessel are withdrawn, while exemptions for agricultural produce, foodstuffs, specified relief materials, chemical fertilizers and oilcakes, registered newspapers or magazines, and defence equipment are preserved and available to GTAs.

Restaurant exemption modified: service tax applies where any air-conditioning is present; alcohol-license condition removed and valuation rules specified.
The service tax exemption for restaurants is confined to establishments that are non air-conditioned (non-centrally air-heated). The prior requirement of holding a licence to serve alcohol has been eliminated. As a result, service tax will be leviable on taxable services provided in restaurants that have air-conditioning or central air heating in any part of the establishment at any time during the year. Valuation of taxable restaurant services is governed by Rule 2C.

Exemption modification for copyright use narrows relief to cinema hall exhibitions, enabling input tax credit flow to users.
Exemption for temporary transfer or permitting the use or enjoyment of copyright in cinematographic films is confined to exhibition of cinematograph films in a cinema hall or a cinema theatre, so the benefit under S. No. 15 applies only to such exhibitions and allows service providers to pass input tax credits to taxable end-users.

Exemption for educational services withdrawn: renting and auxiliary services by institutions lose relief, services to institutions remain exempt.
Exemption for auxiliary educational services and for renting of immovable property provided by educational institutions has been withdrawn; however, renting and auxiliary services provided to an educational institution continue to be exempt.

Taxable portion for construction services adjusted: lower portion for smaller or lower value residential units, higher portion otherwise.
Amendment adjusts the taxable portion for service tax on construction of complexes, buildings or civil structures where land value is included: for residential units intended for sale, the lower taxable portion applies if either the carpet area is within the prescribed threshold or the charged amount is below the prescribed threshold; otherwise a higher taxable portion applies, with an exception where full consideration is received only after issuance of the completion certificate.

Power to arrest: Commissioner may authorize officers to arrest for specified service tax offences alongside concurrent prosecution.
Section 91 grants a power to arrest to the Commissioner of Central Excise, who may authorize any Central Excise officer not below Superintendent to arrest persons for specified offences, notably non-payment of collected service tax, and provides that this administrative arrest power is additional to the power to initiate prosecution for those offences.

Cognizable offence: failing to remit collected service tax within the statutory period is treated as cognizable with custodial penalties.
Section 90 (clause 93(K), Finance Bill, 2013) classifies as cognizable the offence of collecting service tax and failing to pay it to the Central Government beyond six months from when payment becomes due; delayed remittance exceeding fifty lakh rupees attracts imprisonment up to seven years. All other offences under Section 89 are non-cognizable and bailable.

Enhanced penalties for service tax offences: higher-value defaults now carry mandatory minimum imprisonment and increased maximum terms.
Amendments establish threshold-triggered imprisonment ranges for service tax offences: primary specified offence categories exceeding the monetary threshold carry a minimum six-month term and up to three years; failure to remit collected service tax within six months exceeding the threshold carries a minimum six-month term and up to seven years; other offences carry imprisonment up to one year.

Belated filing of memorandum of cross objection: tribunal discretion to admit late cross-objections extended to assessee appeals.
Belated filing of a memorandum of cross objection is permitted where a statutory amendment extends the appellate tribunal's power to admit or permit late cross-objection filings after the prescribed period, explicitly broadening that discretionary jurisdiction to include appeals filed by the assessee.

Penalty for directors' willful company contraventions: officers knowingly concerned face statutory personal penalties under new provision.
Section 78A imposes personal penalty on any director, manager, secretary or other officer who, when the company committed certain service tax contraventions (evasion; issuing invoices without provision of taxable service; wrongful availment and utilisation of tax credit without receipt of service or goods; failure to pay collected service tax within six months), was in charge of and responsible for the conduct of the company's business and was knowingly concerned in the contravention.

Penalty cap for delayed service tax registration limited to a fixed maximum, removing daily rate exposure.
The Finance Bill, 2013 (clause 93(F)) restricts the penalty for failure to take service tax registration to a fixed penalty cap of ten thousand rupees, replacing the prior regime that allowed either that lump sum or a continuing daily charge for each day of default and thereby removing the recurring daily rate exposure for registration defaults.

Buyback/Switching operations treated as fiscal-deficit and cash-neutral to support active debt management and ease redemption pressure.
Repayment provisions in the 2013-14 budget include a specified allocation for buyback/switching operations as part of active debt management to ease redemption pressure in later fiscal years. The buyback/switching allocation is recorded within repayments but the transaction is treated as fiscal deficit as well as cash neutral for the year; only premium or discount impacts the current-year fiscal outturn and a provision in interest payments covers those costs.

Negative list exclusion expanded to exempt testing services related to agriculture from the service tax net.
The amendment expands the negative list exclusion to cover all testing services related to agriculture and agricultural produce by deleting the limiting reference to "seed," thereby excluding soil testing, animal feed testing and testing of plant or animal samples for pests and disease-causing microbes from the service taxation net.

Amnesty scheme eligibility: voluntary declarations accepted when no prior notice exists, yielding immunity from interest and penalties.
The scheme allows voluntary declarations of unpaid service tax to secure immunity from interest, penalties and other proceedings if no notice, determination or proceeding in respect of the period existed before the cut-off; where inquiries, searches, summons, production requisitions or audits were pending, the designated authority must reject declarations by a reasoned written order, and accepted declarations are final subject to the statutory proviso, creating procedural tensions that invite clarification by amendment.

Service tax exemptions narrowed and abatement rate reduced, altering eligibility for educational, restaurant, transport and construction services.
Amendments narrow multiple service tax exemptions and reduce the construction abatement. Key changes: educational auxiliary services and renting by specified educational institutes lose exemption; cinematograph film copyright exemption applies only to films exhibited in cinema halls or theatres; restaurant exemption limited to non air conditioned establishments; transportation exemptions for rail and vessel harmonized with GTA provisions, withdrawing exemption for petroleum, postal mails and household effects while preserving GTA exemptions for specified goods; parking and government aircraft maintenance exemptions withdrawn; charitable activities definition narrowed. Construction abatement is reduced effective March 1, 2013.

Power to arrest expanded: officers authorized to detain persons for specified service tax offences including non-payment of collected service tax.
Section 91 adds a power to arrest within the service tax framework, permitting the Commissioner of Central Excise to authorize officers not below Superintendent to arrest persons for specified offences, with particular emphasis on non-payment of collected service tax.