Constitution of committee of chief commissioners: territorial entries amended to revise Chandigarh and Jalandhar designations for appeals.
The Central Board amends the table of the principal service tax notification by substituting "Chandigarh" with "Chandigarh -I" in two specified entries and replacing occurrences of "Jalandhar" with "Chandigarh -II" in another entry, thereby revising the territorial designations used to constitute the committee of chief commissioners for appeals to the appellate tribunal.

Constitution of committee of chief commissioners revises Chandigarh appellate areas, substituting Chandigarh -I and Chandigarh-II under statutory appeal provisions.
The Board amends the service tax notification to substitute, in the TABLE against Sl. No. 6(1) column (3), the words "Chandigarh, Jalandhar" with "Chandigarh -I and Chandigarh-II", thereby redefining the specified appellate areas for Commissioners of Central Excise/Service Tax under the statutory appellate committee framework.

Correction of designation: 'Notification No. 01/2009-Service Tax' reclassified as 'Order No. 01/2009-Service Tax' effective March 26.
The Office of the Chief Commissioner of Central Excise issued a corrigendum (Order No. 02/2009-Service Tax) dated 26th March, 2009 correcting the caption in Notification No. 01/2009-Service Tax dated 27th February, 2009: the reference "Notification No. 01/2009-Service Tax" is amended to read "Order No. 01/2009-Service Tax," recorded under file C. No. IV/16/294/2008 CC CEx. (BZ).

Service Tax return preparer identification required: new rule mandates STRP identification, name and signature on returns.
The amendment inserts a new item in Form ST-3 requiring that, where a return is prepared by a Service Tax Return Preparer (STRP), the filer must furnish the STRP's Identification Number, the Name of the STRP, and the Service Tax Return Preparer's signature; the rules are made under section 94 of the Finance Act, 1994 and commence on publication in the Official Gazette.

SEZ service tax exemption: approved services used for authorised SEZ operations qualify for refund subject to procedural conditions.
Service tax on taxable services specified for relation to authorised operations in a Special Economic Zone is exempt for SEZ developers or units when those services are on an Approval Committee-approved list and actually used for authorised operations; exemption is provided by refund (except for services wholly consumed within SEZ) subject to actual payment of service tax, prohibition on taking CENVAT credit, filing procedural claims with the jurisdictional officer within prescribed time, obtaining an STC where required, submission of specified documents, and verification prior to refund with recovery provisions for erroneous refunds.

Service tax rate cap reduces taxable incidence on services by exempting the levy in excess of the capped rate.
Exempts all taxable services specified in sub section 105 of section 65 from so much of service tax leviable under section 66 as is in excess of ten per cent of the value of taxable services, effected by Notification No. 8/2009 ST dated 24 February 2009 issued under the Finance Act and later rescinded by Notification No. 2/2012 ST with effect from 1 April 2012.

Service Tax Return Preparer certification and duties enable assessees to use trained preparers with strict recordkeeping and disciplinary rules.
Establishes the Service Tax Return Preparer Scheme, 2009, setting eligibility (senior secondary education), enrolment, training and certification by Board-selected Partner Organisations under a designated Resource Centre; permits assessees to opt for certified preparers; imposes duties on assessees to consent and verify returns and on preparers to prepare with due diligence, sign and furnish returns, provide copies, retain acknowledgements and maintain monthly records and statements; empowers the Resource Centre to administer training, curricula, monitoring and maintain preparer particulars; and provides disciplinary grounds for warning, suspension or cancellation of certificates.

Delegation of adjudication authority: Chief Commissioner empowered to assign service tax case adjudication under statutory delegation.
Powers exercisable by the Central Board under the relevant notification and enabling provisions shall also be exercised by the Chief Commissioner of Central Excise for assigning adjudication of service tax cases within his jurisdiction, thereby extending the board's assignment powers to enable administrative allocation of service tax matters under the Finance Act and rules made thereunder.

Constitution of appellate committees under Section 86(1A) revised; commissioner jurisdictions realigned for certain Central Excise areas.
Amendment substitutes the serial number 18 table entries in the principal notification under Section 86(1A), realigning appellate responsibility by pairing the Commissioners of Central Excise for the Shillong, Dibrugarh and Guwahati commissionerates and identifying Commissioner (Appeals), Guwahati in the reconfigured entries.

Appeals to appellate tribunal: amendment designates committees of chief commissioners and specified areas for service tax appeals.
Amendment under sub section (1A) of Section 86 revises the Table in the principal Service Tax notification by substituting serial number 21 to designate a committee of Chief Commissioners; the entry lists the Chief Commissioners of Central Excise, Shillong and Kolkata and specifies the areas Dibrugarh, Shillong and Guwahati as the territorial units for allocation of appellate responsibilities.

Committee constitution under Section 86 allocates specified commissioners to oversee service tax appeals to the appellate tribunal.
The notification inserts Sl. No.56 into Notification No. 19/2007-Service Tax, constituting a committee under Section 86(1A) comprised of (1) Commissioner of Central Excise and Service Tax, Large Tax Payers Unit, Delhi and (2) Commissioner of Central Excise, Delhi III, with appellate jurisdiction identified as Commissioner of Central Excise (Appeals), Large Tax Payers Unit, Delhi, thereby allocating appellate oversight for specified service tax areas.

Committee constitution under section 86(1A) updates appellate appeal jurisdictions and adds Director General (Service Tax) reference.
The notification amends the committee composition and territorial jurisdiction under section 86(1A) by substituting the Mumbai committee to include the Chief Commissioner of Central Excise, Mumbai-I; the Director General (Service Tax), Mumbai; and the Commissioner, Large Taxpayers Unit, Mumbai; and by inserting a Delhi committee comprising the Chief Commissioners for Delhi and Chandigarh and the Commissioner, Large Taxpayers Unit, Delhi. The Explanation is amended to add the Director General (Service Tax) to the list of notified authorities.

Service tax exemption grants retrospective relief for specified services to goods transport agencies, subject to invoice requirement and refund mechanism.
Notification No. 1/2009 exempts specified taxable services provided to a goods transport agency for use in road goods transport from the whole of service tax, conditioned on the service provider's invoice stating the goods transport agency's name and address and the consignment note's name and date.

Exemption for clearing and forwarding agent services: conditional documentary proof required for export-related service tax relief.
The notification inserts an exemption for services provided by a clearing and forwarding agent in relation to export goods exported by the exporter, conditional on the exporter producing the agent's invoice specifying shipping bill number and date, description of export goods, the exporter's invoice number and date relating to the goods, and details of all charges collected by the agent, together with details of other taxable services provided by that agent to the exporter; it also substitutes a revised percentage against Sr.No.15 item (vi), omits a proviso sub paragraph in paragraph 1, and removes item (iii) in serial No.10 of the Form.

Exporter service exemption: timeframe extended and statutory testing documentation accepted for exemption under amended service tax rules.
The amendment extends the period in paragraph 2(e) from sixty days to six months and inserts sub-item (ia) in the Schedule against Sr. No. 3, allowing an exporter to furnish a copy of domestic rules or regulations that statutorily mandate testing and analysis where the buyer does not require such testing, to meet the prescribed conditions. The notification is effective from its date of publication in the Official Gazette as a further amendment to Notification No.41/2007-Service Tax.

Service tax reporting: ST-3 now requires disclosure of advance payments and Cenvat payment adjustments in returns.
The ST-3 return is amended to require a schedule for advance service tax deposits and their adjustment, to add election and reporting lines for Cenvat obligations for exempted outputs including a new table (5AA) capturing values of exempted goods and services and amounts paid by credit or cash with challan references, and to expand the credit-utilisation calculation to include payments under the Cenvat option; the Annexure of services is also extended to include specified service categories.

Provisional attachment of property secures pending service tax revenue with notice, limited scope, and a right to make submissions.
Provisional attachment permits authorities to secure pending service tax revenue during assessment proceedings by attaching property after a verified proposal; the Commissioner issues a reasoned notice with fifteen days for submissions and may order attachment. Attachment must be limited to the value necessary to protect revenue, prefers immovable property, excludes personal property of proprietors/partners/directors, and restricts dealing with attached property without prior Commissioner approval. Such attachment lapses after six months but may be extended by the Chief Commissioner for stated reasons up to prescribed limits and terminates on payment of pending revenue with interest.

Service Tax exemption for supply of goods carriage to goods transport agencies without transfer of possession.
Exemption is provided for the taxable service of supplying a goods carriage to a goods transport agency where there is no transfer of right of possession and effective control, when the carriage is used by the goods transport agency to provide transport-of-goods-by-road services; the Central Government, under section 93(1) of the Finance Act, exempts the whole of the service tax leviable under section 66 in such cases, effective from publication in the Official Gazette.

Dispute Resolution Scheme grants a form based process for declaring tax arrears and obtaining final settlement with conditional immunity.
Prescribes the Dispute Resolution Scheme Rules, 2008: definitions, commencement, and procedural mechanics requiring declarations in Form 1 (duplicate, verified and signed) with detailed particulars of tax arrears and any writs or appeals; designated authorities acknowledge receipt and determine sums payable which must be paid in cash. Form 2 is issued by the designated authority to record full and final settlement after payment and, subject to the Scheme's provisions, grants immunity from penalty proceedings under the Finance Act, 1994.

Services provided in relation to chit: service tax treatment prescribed, formalising taxation and scope of chit fund services.
Amends Notification No. 1/2006-Service Tax by inserting entry 4A (zm) to declare services provided in relation to chit taxable, provides a definition of "chit" covering various local terms and subscription/ prize mechanisms, and prescribes the applicable effective service tax rate for such chit-related services under the schedule of taxable services.