Review Committee composition updated: additional Commissioners added to the Service Tax review panel under the notification amendment.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs, under sub-section (1A) of section 86 of the Finance Act, 1994, amends Notification No. 19/2007-Service Tax by inserting Sl. No. 55 in the TABLE of Review Committees. The new entry adds three offices to the Review Committee: Commissioner of Central Excise and Service Tax, Large Tax Payers Unit, Mumbai; Commissioner of Central Excise (Service Tax), Mumbai; and Commissioner of Central (Appeals), Large Tax Payers, Mumbai.

Service Tax Review Committees expanded to include Chief Commissioners from designated Mumbai tax units as members.
Amendment inserts a new table entry to the Service Tax notification specifying that Review Committees will include the Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Payers Unit, Mumbai; the Chief Commissioner of Central Excise, Mumbai I; and the Commissioner of Central Excise and Service Tax, Large Tax Payers Unit, Mumbai, thereby prescribing those office designations as members for constituting review panels.

Refund for export-related services: foreign currency exchange and supply-for-use services eligible on exporter evidence.
Amendment inserts three service entries making certain services eligible for refund in relation to export of goods: services of purchase or sale of foreign currency, including money changing, provided to an exporter in relation to exported goods; and services of supply of tangible goods for use without transferring possession and effective control, provided to an exporter in relation to goods exported. Refund eligibility is subject to the exporter producing evidence that the services were used in relation to the export of goods.

Service tax scope expanded: wording amended to 'to any person' extending coverage under Finance Act reforms.
Amendments change recipient wording in notifications 18/2002, 33/2004 and 34/2004 so that services provided "to any person" replace references to services provided "to a client" or "to a customer," thereby broadening the taxable scope to implement services included by the Finance Act, 2008; the notification is issued under statutory authority and takes effect from 16 May 2008.

Service tax scope broadened by redefining who counts as the recipient, expanding taxable persons accordingly.
The notification amends the Table in Notification No.1/2006 to broaden the taxable persons by substituting "to the client" with "to any person" and replacing "client" and "customer" with "recipient of service", thereby aligning the charging provisions to cover services newly included by the Finance Act, 2008.

Taxation of cross-border services: services received in India treated as foreign-sourced where supplied tangible goods remain in India during use.
Amendment to rule 3 substitutes updated clause references to add newly specified services and inserts a proviso treating the specified taxable service received by a recipient in India as provided from outside India only if the tangible goods supplied for use are located in India for the period of their use by that recipient.

Export of services: amendment adds services and treats specified cross border services as export when goods remain outside India.
The Export of Services Rules are amended to expand the listed service clauses in rule 3(1) and to add a proviso treating a specified taxable service as an export of taxable service when the recipient is located outside India and the tangible goods supplied for use remain located outside India during the period of such use.

Service tax on foreign exchange: brokers may elect gross-transaction levy; option barred if consideration shown separately.
Rule 4A replaces "customer" with "any person" and rule 4B replaces "the customer" with "the recipient of service". Rule 6 clarifies that transactions with associated enterprises include amounts credited or debited to any account (including "Suspense account") as payment received, and adds an option for persons liable on foreign-currency exchange services to discharge service tax by paying an amount calculated on the gross amount of currency exchanged, except where the consideration is shown separately in the invoice, bill or challan.

Service tax effective date appointed as commencement for levy on new and amended taxable services under the Finance Act.
The Central Government, exercising powers under clauses (A) and (B) of section 90 of the Finance Act, 2008, appoints 16 May 2008 as the date on which the Act's provisions shall come into force, applying to the levy of service tax on newly specified services and amendments to existing taxable services, by Notification No. 18/2008 dated 10 May 2008.

Export-related service tax exemption: specified exporter services exempted subject to documentary proof and refund limits.
Inserts exemptible exporter services: custom house agent services require agent invoice with shipping bill reference and charge details plus details of other services; collection and letter of credit services require evidence linking use to exported goods; services by commission agents abroad require agreement, shipping bill declaration of commission, proof of export and payment, with exclusions for canalized items, project exports, government or EXIM Bank financed exports, and foreign joint venture equity transfers; refund for commission agent service tax limited to actual tax paid or tax on two percent of FOB value, whichever is less.

Adjudication power under section 83A expanded to cover higher service tax slabs with revised monetary thresholds.
Amendment revises the monetary descriptor in the Table of the principal Service Tax notification to alter the adjudication power allocation tied to a specified bracket, replacing the prior entry at the relevant serial point and thereby modifying which taxable amounts fall within that adjudicatory category.

Publication of Names allows public disclosure of persons adjudged for service tax evasion or non-payment after appeals conclude.
These rules authorize the Central Government to publish names and particulars of persons adjudged for service tax evasion or for non-payment of assessed amounts once appeal periods have expired or appeals have been disposed of. Commissioners must verify facts and forward a detailed proposal on the prescribed Annexure to the Chief Commissioner, who must examine it within fifteen days and may recommend publication to the Board. The Central Government may then cause publication in the Gazette, print or electronic media; the Annexure requires identity, offence details, amounts involved, adjudication and appeal status, reasons for publication and proposed particulars.

Service tax exemption for cross-border hotel booking services provided abroad and received by Indian hotels for foreign customers.
Exempts from service tax booking services for accommodation in an Indian hotel when the service provider is located outside India, the service is received by a hotel in India, and the customer is also located outside India; the exemption covers the whole of the service tax under section 66 read with section 66A of the Finance Act, and the notification defines "hotel" as a commercial boarding and lodging establishment.

Service tax exemption for goods transport agency services: tax applies only on value exceeding a specified portion of gross charges.
Exempts service tax on goods transport agency services for transport of goods by road to the extent that it exceeds the tax calculated on a value equal to twenty five per cent of the gross amount charged by the goods transport agency, thereby treating a specified portion of gross charges as the taxable value; enacted under powers of the Finance Act and effective from 1 March 2008, later rescinded in 2012.

Removal of transport exemption: service tax exemption for road goods transport deleted, changing effective service tax treatment.
Notification No. 12/2008-Service Tax, issued under section 93(1) of the Finance Act, 1994, amends Notification No. 1/2006-Service Tax by omitting S.No.6 and the entries relating thereto from the Table, thereby deleting the exemption for carriage or transport of goods by road and altering the effective service tax treatment of road goods transport services.

Service tax registration threshold increased for special category persons, amending Form ST-1 and the governing notification.
Amends Form ST-1 by substituting in serial number 4, category (b)(ii) the monetary threshold from "seven lakh rupees" to "nine lakh rupees", effective 1 April 2008, under Notification No. 11/2008-Service Tax, thereby modifying the registration criterion for the special category of persons under the principal Notification No. 32/2005-Service Tax.

Registration threshold for special category service providers increased, altering eligibility for compulsory registration effective next fiscal year.
The amendment substitutes the monetary ceiling in rule 3(2) of the Service Tax (Registration of Special Category of Persons) Rules, 2005 with a higher amount, thereby increasing the registration threshold for special category persons; the amendment is issued under section 94 of the Finance Act, 1994 and comes into force on the 1st day of April, 2008.

Service tax threshold: registration required once exemption limit is exceeded, following amendment to prior notification.
Amends Notification No. 26/2005-Service Tax by substituting the monetary threshold in paragraph 1(ii) with a higher threshold, thereby changing when assessees availing the exemption must obtain service tax registration certification; the amendment is effected under the powers of the Finance Act and takes effect on the notification's stated commencement date.

Basic exemption limit raised for service tax, increasing the threshold for registration and taxable liability.
Amendment to Notification No. 6/2005-Service Tax substitutes the words "eight lakh rupees" wherever they occur with "ten lakh rupees", thereby raising the basic exemption limit under that notification. The amendment is effected by Notification No. 8/2008-Service Tax, made under sub section (1) of section 93 of the Finance Act, 1994, and comes into force on the 1st day of April, 2008.

Composition scheme for works contracts: amendment increases the service tax composition rate, effective on publication of the notification.
Amendment substitutes the earlier composition percentage in rule 3(1) of the Works Contract (Composition Scheme for Payment of Service Tax) Rules, 2007 with a higher percentage, changing the composition levy applicable to works contracts; the amendment takes effect on publication in the Official Gazette.