Service tax exemption for rail transport of specified goods shields listed commodities from service tax under the Finance Act.
Exempts from service tax the taxable service of transporting specified goods by rail, listing categories such as defence equipment, railway materials, postal mail bags, disaster relief materials, passengers' luggage and household effects, parcels and numerous low rate commodities and perishables, and certain petroleum products and kerosene for public distribution; the exemption is made under section 93(1) of the Finance Act and is stated to come into force on the first day of July, 2012.

Rescission of exemption for transport of goods in containers by rail takes effect from a revised notified commencement date.
Rescinds the prior service tax notification exempting transport of goods in containers by rail under section 93(1) of the Finance Act, 1994, preserving things done or omitted before rescission and specifying a substituted commencement date, with subsequent notifications altering that effective date.

Export of Services classification: reassigns certain professional and event services to residuary category and clarifies territorial scope.
The amendment to Export of Services Rules, 2005 modifies rule 3 by reassigning certain services into the residuary classification through changes to sub rule (1) and omitting specified sub clauses, and by revising sub rule (2) to remove one clause and replace the Explanation to state that "India" includes installations, structures and vessels on the continental shelf and exclusive economic zone for purposes related to prospecting, extraction, production and supply of mineral oil and natural gas.

Service tax rescission withdraws government exemption for group personal accident insurance services provided to employees.
The Central Government has rescinded the earlier service tax notification that exempted services provided by the Government of Rajasthan under the Group Personal Accident Scheme to its employees in relation to general insurance business, withdrawing that exemption prospectively. The rescission is subject to a savings provision preserving actions taken or omissions occurring before the rescission and is effected under the government's fiscal authority on grounds of public interest.

Exemption for essential food items expanded to include food grains and pulses under the road goods transport service.
Substitutes the words "eggs or milk" in the opening paragraph of Notification No.33/2004-Service Tax with "eggs, milk, food grains or pulses", thereby extending the exemption within the Transport of Goods by Road (GTA) service to include food grains and pulses. The amendment is effected under the Finance Act, 1994 and comes into force upon publication in the Gazette of India.

Vocational training institute definition clarified to cover ITIs and ITCs affiliated to NCVT offering designated apprenticeship trades.
The Explanation in Notification No.24/2004-Service Tax is amended to define "vocational training institute" as an Industrial Training Institute or an Industrial Training Centre affiliated to the National Council for Vocational Training, offering courses in designated trades as notified under the Apprentices Act, 1961; the amendment is effected under section 93(1) of the Finance Act, 1994 and is effective from the date of publication in the Gazette of India.

Service tax exemption for packaged software: exempt where excise duties are paid and license is bundled with the product.
Service Tax exemption applies to packaged or canned software intended for single use when (i) any right-to-use document is packed with the software, (ii) the manufacturer, duplicator or copyright holder has paid appropriate excise duties on the entire amount received from the buyer, and (iii) that person does not avail a concurrent central excise benefit.

Electronic payment and filing requirement: prior-year service tax above threshold mandates electronic returns and payments.
The Service Tax (Amendment) Rules, 2010, effective 1 April 2010, require electronic deposit of service tax through internet banking where an assessee paid total service tax of ten lakh or more in the preceding financial year, including amounts paid by utilisation of CENVAT credit; they also require electronic filing of the return for assessees meeting the same threshold.

Exemption for business auxiliary services: service tax not required for manufacture related alcoholic beverage services during a specified September period.
The Central Government directed that service tax payable on business auxiliary services provided during the course of manufacture or processing of alcoholic beverages, which were not levied pursuant to a prevalent non levy practice, shall not be required to be paid for the specified period in September 2009, exercising powers under the Central Excise Act and the Finance Act.

Service tax exemption for manufacturers of cycle and sewing machine parts subject to aggregate value limits, specified processes, and accounting conditions.
Exemption applies to taxable services in relation to specified processes in manufacture of parts of cycles or sewing machines where the aggregate value of such taxable services provided by a service provider does not exceed a prescribed threshold for the preceding financial year; exemption is restricted to the first clearances made on or after the first day of April in any financial year; providers who also manufacture dutiable goods must maintain separate accounts of receipt, production and clearance of exempted and dutiable goods and services; specified processes include electroplating, zinc plating, anodizing, heat treatment, powder coating, painting and auto black.

Service tax exemption for works contracts on canals not primarily serving commerce or industry applies to specified taxable services.
Exempts taxable service for execution of works contracts relating to canals not primarily used for commerce or industry, by exempting the whole of service tax leviable on the taxable service defined in sub clause (zzzza) of clause (105) of section 65 when arising from such canal works, on the basis of public interest; issued as Notification No. 41/2009 Service Tax and later rescinded.

Exemption for transport of export goods through waterways requires exporter to produce bill of lading and evidence of export.
Exempts services for transport of export goods through national waterway, inland water and coastal shipping, conditional on the exporter producing the Bill of Lading or Consignment Note or similar document issued in his name and producing evidence that the transport is provided for export of the relevant goods.

Exemption for manufacture-or-processing service of alcoholic beverages reduces taxable value by inputs' value where no Cenvat credit is taken.
Exempts the taxable service of manufacture or processing of alcoholic beverages by allowing deduction from taxable value equal to the value of inputs (excluding capital goods), subject to conditions: no Cenvat credit taken, documentary proof specifying input value, and maintenance of separate accounts where the provider also manufactures on own account.

Amendment to Export of Services Rules expands bracketed service entries, updating enumerations and rule 3 references.
Amendment expands specified bracketed lists in rule 3(1) of the Export of Services Rules: clause (i) is substituted to add an additional bracketed entry, clause (ii) is substituted to expand its bracketed list by two entries, and clause (iii)(b) is substituted to include an additional bracketed item, thereby revising the enumerations in the three identified clauses.

Rule 3 amendment expands enumerated service entries by substituting additional bracketed identifiers, broadening covered service descriptions.
Amendment expands the scope of entries within rule 3 of the Taxation of Services (Provided from outside India and Received in India) Rules, 2006 by substituting specified bracketed letter references in clause (i), clause (ii), and clause (iii)(b), thereby adding further referenced entries to the enumerations that determine which service descriptions are included under the rule.

Rescission of notification withdraws exemption for certain rail goods transport services, effective from publication in the Gazette.
The Central Government rescinds a prior notification that exempted certain services relating to the transport of goods by rail, withdrawing that exemption while preserving the effect of actions taken or omissions before rescission; the rescission is effected under powers granted by the Finance Act and comes into force from publication in the Gazette of India.

Service tax exemption expanded to include specified export promotion councils' services under amended notification provisions.
The amendment inserts six specified export promotion councils into paragraph 1 of Notification No.16/2009, thereby extending the notification's service tax exemption to services provided by those councils and modifying the enumerative list of exempt entities under the principal notification.

Amendment to service tax notification clarifies the taxable service as transport of goods in containers by rail.
The Central Government, invoking powers under sub section (1) of section 93 of the Finance Act, 1994, amends notification No. 1/2006 Service Tax by substituting at S.No.11, column (3) of the Table the entry Transport of goods in containers by rail, thereby revising the notification schedule to specify that service description for service tax purposes.

Service tax exemption for rail goods transport preserves tax relief but excludes non-government container rail services.
The notification exempts the taxable service provided to any person in relation to transport of goods by rail from the whole of the service tax leviable under the Finance Act, while expressly excluding services provided by any person other than the government railway in relation to transport of goods in containers by rail.

Service tax exemption for services linked to manufacture of alcoholic pharmaceutical and cosmetic preparations, removing the tax levy on those services.
The notification exempts from service tax services provided to a client in relation to the manufacture of pharmaceutical products, medicines, perfumery, cosmetics or toilet preparations containing alcohol that are charged to excise duty under the Medicinal and Toilet Preparations excise regime, removing the whole of the service tax leviable on those services; the exemption was subsequently rescinded by a later notification.