Service tax exemption for specified life insurance schemes: Janashree Bima Yojana and Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana now included.
The notification inserts entry 26A to the service tax exemption schedule, expressly exempting services of life insurance business provided under Janashree Bima Yojana (JBY) and Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana (AABY) from service tax, thereby amending the principal Service Tax notification to include these two schemes.

Service tax registration accounting codes added - ST 1 form amended to require service descriptions and payment codes.
Amendment by the Service Tax (Fifth Amendment) Rules, 2012 substitutes the table at serial no.7 of Form ST 1 and inserts an Annexure listing descriptions of taxable services with corresponding accounting codes for Tax Collection, Other Receipts (interest), Penalties and Deduct Refunds; registrants must choose the taxable service description from the Annexure and field formations shall use the prescribed accounting codes for consistent classification and remittance.

Extension of time to file returns: quarterly Form ST3 deadline extended due to anticipated ACES system congestion and filing rush.
Central Board of Excise & Customs extends the filing deadline for the quarterly Form ST3 return for April-June 2012 by one month, invoking powers under the Service Tax Rules, 1994. The extension responds to an ACES system rollout of quarterly-format returns shortly before the original due date, a circumstance likely to cause concentrated filing, network congestion, delays, and taxpayer inconvenience, and is communicated as an administrative order to relevant tax commissioners and systems officials.

Form ST-3 filing requirement limited to return period April to June 2012 for the October submission.
The amendment inserts a proviso to rule 7(2) specifying that the Form 'ST-3' required to be submitted by the 25th day of October, 2012 shall cover the period between 1st April to 30th June, 2012 only.

Director-provided services: company designated as recipient; security services added and defined under service tax rules.
The amendment designates the company as the recipient of services provided or agreed to be provided by a director, clarifying who is chargeable, and adds security services to the scope of services alongside manpower. It further inserts a definition of security services to include security of property or persons and services of investigation, detection or verification.

Reverse charge: inclusion of director-provided services and security services under service tax notification alters chargeable service scope.
Amendment expands reverse-charge coverage by expressly including services provided or agreed to be provided by a director of a company to that company and by adding security services to the description of manpower for any purpose; corresponding entries in the reverse-charge table are inserted and amended to reflect this treatment.

Service tax exemption amended by removing 'bovine' from specified entry, narrowing applicability of the exemption.
The Central Government amended the Mega Exemption Notification No.25/2012 by omitting the word "bovine" from entry 33, under powers conferred by the Finance Act, thereby altering the literal scope of that exemption; the change is effected by Notification No.44/2012 and references the original Gazette publication of the principal notification.

Service tax corrigendum removes the phrase 'in excess of the service tax' from the notification's paragraph one.
Corrigendum amends Notification No. 42/2012 Service Tax by directing the omission of the phrase "in excess of the service tax" from paragraph one of that notification, as published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary.

Service Tax corrigendum updates rule reference by substituting 'Explanation two' with 'Explanation three' in the notification.
Corrigendum to Notification No. 36/2012-Service Tax dated 2 July 2012 amends rule 6A(1)(f) by substituting the phrase "Explanation 2" with "Explanation 3" in the specified clause of the original Gazette notification (G.S.R. 478(E), dated 20 June 2012).

Service Tax Exemption for specified Indian Railways passenger and goods transport services temporarily relieves levy under service tax provisions.
An exemption under section 93 of the Finance Act, 1994 relieves specified taxable services provided by the Indian Railways from service tax under section 66B for a limited period from the date of notification. The exempt services are: (a) passenger transportation by rail, with or without accompanied belongings, when provided in first class or in an air conditioned coach; and (b) transportation of goods by railways.

Terminology amendment: substitution of 'support' with 'legal' in a service tax notification provision clarifies scope.
Corrigendum to a service tax notification directs that in para I, clause (A), sub-clause (iv), item (B) the word "support" shall be read as "legal", effecting a precise textual substitution in the earlier published notification.

Service Tax correction: amends notification to change a proviso's column reference from one column to another.
Corrigendum to notification No. 31/2012-Service Tax substitutes the proviso to clause (d) reading "column (4)" with "column (3)", correcting the published column cross-reference in the Gazette entry without altering other substantive provisions.

Exemption for exporter commission services limited by FOB value; strict documentation, registration and periodic filing required.
Exemption applies to service tax on commission agent services provided by agents located outside India and used for export of goods, subject to a cap linked to the free on board value and to conditions including declaration of commission in the shipping bill, invoices issued in the exporter's name, registration with an export promotion council, possession of Import Export Code, prior intimation to the jurisdictional authority in Form EXP3, and certified half yearly filing in Form EXP4 with supporting originals and agreements; specified export categories are excluded and excess commission beyond the cap is taxable.

Rebate of service tax for exporters: entitlement via prescribed rates or document-based refund subject to specified conditions.
Rebate of service tax is allowed to exporters for specified services used for export, by refund, subject to exclusions including services covered by certain CENVAT Credit Rules provisions and where CENVAT credit has been taken. Claims may be made either under a Schedule of rates applied as a percentage of FOB value or on the basis of certified documents evidencing actual service tax paid; procedural registration, shipping bill declarations, minimum thresholds, time limits, certification and verification by Central Excise officers apply, and rebates are recoverable if export proceeds are not realized within the foreign exchange period.

Service tax construction: references to section 66 are to be read as section 66B for levy and collection.
The Order declares that, for purposes of service tax levy and collection, references to the earlier charging provision in Chapter V of the Finance Act, 1994 or any other Act shall be construed as references to the newly inserted charging provision, thereby removing doubt about existing cross references.

Exemption for SEZ services: refund or ab initio non-payment of service tax for specified services used in authorised operations.
Exemption from service tax and related cesses is granted to SEZ units or developers for services used in authorised operations either by refund of tax paid or by ab initio non-payment where services are wholly consumed within the SEZ; non-wholly consumed services receive a refund limited by an export-turnover-to-total-turnover formula. Eligibility requires Approval Committee approval of specified services, non-utilisation of CENVAT credit, maintenance of specified records, submission of prescribed forms and supporting invoices, and compliance with verification, filing timelines and auditor certification requirements.

Rebate of duty and service tax on inputs: procedural conditions and documentation for exported services claims.
Rebate of excise duty on inputs and of service tax and cess on input services used in providing services exported (except to Nepal and Bhutan) is available under rule 6A, subject to conditions that the service is exported under rule 6A, duty and tax have been paid to suppliers or to the Central Government if paid directly, total rebate meets a minimum threshold, and no CENVAT credit has been availed; non-compliance or incorrect claims render any rebate recoverable with interest. The notification prescribes pre-export declaration, verification by the jurisdictional officer, procurement and invoice requirements, post-export claim documentation, and sanction procedures using Form ASTR-2.

Service tax scope clarified: substitution narrows referenced clauses to telecommunication service and service portion in works contracts.
The notification replaces the words referring to several clause identifiers in the original service-tax definition with the phrase "of telecommunication service and service portion in execution of a works contract", thereby modifying the textual scope of services referenced in the principal notification; the amendment takes effect from 1st July, 2012 and cites the principal notification it amends.

Point of Taxation amendment clarifies taxable event as supply 'provided or agreed to be provided' and removes specified sub rules.
Amends the Point of Taxation Rules, 2011 by omitting sub rules (b) and (f) of rule 2 and substituting the phrase "provided or to be provided" with "provided or agreed to be provided" wherever it occurs; titled Point of Taxation (Amendment) Rules, 2012 and commencing on the 1st day of July, 2012.

Person liable for service tax redefined to allocate recipient liability for specified services and preserve provider liability otherwise.
The amendment broadens rule 2 definitions to include banking companies, financial institutions, non-banking financial companies, body corporate, goods carriage, insurance agent, legal service, life insurance business, renting of immovable property and supply of manpower, inserts a place of provision cross-reference to the Place of Provision of Services Rules 2012, and recasts the person liable for service tax to allocate recipient liability for specified services while preserving provider liability otherwise.