5.1 A number of changes have been made in the Service Tax Rules to align the provisions consequent to the introduction of Point of Taxation Rules, 2011. A new rule 5B has been introduced to provide that the applicable rate of tax shall be the rate prevailing at the time when the services are deemed to have been provided.  

5.2 It has also been provided that when an invoice has been issued or a payment received for a service which is not subsequently provided, the assessee may take the credit of the service tax earlier paid when the amount has been refunded by him to the recipient or by the issue of credit note, as the case may be.  

5.3 The amount stated in rule 6(4B)(iii) for adjustment of excess amount paid by an assessee is being enhanced to Rs. 2 lakhs.  

5.4 A new sub-rule 6A has been introduced in rule 6 to provide that if an amount of service tax has been self-assessed but not paid, the same shall be recoverable alongwith interest under section 87 of the Act. Thus, there shall be no need to resort to the requirements of section 73 for the recovery of such self-assessed amounts.  

5.5 The composition rate in sub-rule 7B of rule 6 applicable to in relation to purchase or sale of foreign currency, including money changing, has been reduced from 0.25% to 0.1% and the Proviso has been deleted. Thus, in the case of these services, option of paying service tax on billed charges will not be available.

5.6 All these changes will come into effect from 01.04.2011.  

Point of taxation: tax rate fixed at service provision time, with credit, recovery, and forex composition changes. Amendments align Service Tax Rules with Point of Taxation by fixing the applicable tax rate at the time services are deemed provided; permit credit where invoices or payments were made for services not rendered upon refund or issuance of credit note; increase the adjustment threshold for excess payments; allow recovery with interest of self-assessed unpaid tax without resort to reassessment procedures; and reduce the composition rate for foreign-currency exchange services while removing the billed-charges payment option.