Rescission of service tax exemption for port construction withdraws prior relief while preserving past acts and omissions.
The Central Government rescinds the notification that exempted construction of ports from service tax, subject to a saving for acts or omissions prior to rescission, and provides that the rescission shall come into force from the notified commencement date under exercise of powers conferred by the Finance Act.

Service tax exemption for port construction: construction and works-contract services excluded from tax, subject to specified exclusions.
Exempts commercial or industrial construction service and services in relation to execution of works contract supplied for construction of a port or other port from service tax under the Finance Act, excluding completion, finishing, repair, alteration, renovation, restoration, maintenance or repair of existing ports; defines "port" and "other port" by reference to section 65 and states the exemption's effective date, with the notification later rescinded by a subsequent notification.

Service tax exemption for renting of immovable property allows deduction of local property taxes from taxable value.
Exempts the taxable service of renting of immovable property by allowing deduction of property tax levied and collected by local bodies from the gross amount charged for renting when computing the value for service tax; interest or penalty paid to local authorities is not deductible, and property tax must be apportioned where tax periods differ.

Service tax effective date set for coming-into-force of Finance Act provisions governing new levy and amended services.
The Central Government, by Notification No. 23/2007-Service Tax, exercising powers under clause (A) and clause (B) of section 135 of the Finance Act, 2007, appoints 1st June 2007 as the date on which those clauses shall come into force, thereby bringing into effect the new levy and changes in existing services as provided by the Finance Act, 2007.

Secondary and Higher Education Cess on taxable services added via amendment, expanding cess chargeability under export-of-services rules.
Notification No.12/2005-Service Tax is amended by inserting a new paragraph in Explanation 1 to specify that the Secondary and Higher Education Cess on taxable services is levied in accordance with the Finance Act provisions cited in the amendment.

Secondary and Higher Education Cess inclusion added to export rebate notification for taxable services under Finance Act provisions.
The notification amends Notification No. 11/2005-Service Tax by inserting paragraph (c) in the Explanation to expressly include Secondary and Higher Education Cess on taxable services levied under section 136 read with section 140 of the Finance Act, 2007, thereby bringing that cess within the notification's rebate framework for service tax and cess on exported taxable services.

Delay in filing returns: fixed graded monetary penalties now payable, and payment closes pending proceedings under the Act.
Insertion of rule 7C prescribes graded amounts for delayed furnishing of the return under rule 7: five hundred rupees for delay up to fifteen days; one thousand rupees for delay beyond fifteen but not later than thirty days; and one thousand rupees plus one hundred rupees per day from the thirty first day for delays beyond thirty days, subject to the maximum specified in the Act. Payment of the prescribed amount deems proceedings in respect of the delayed submission concluded, and pending proceedings initiated before the Finance Bill, 2007 assent are similarly deemed concluded if payment is made within sixty days of assent.

Constitution of appellate committees under section 86 establishes two-commissioner panels to process Finance Act appeals.
The Board, under sub section (1A) of section 86 of the Finance Act, 1994, constitutes Committees of two named Commissioners of Central Excise for specified commissionerates, mapping each two member Committee to a corresponding Commissioner of Central Excise (Appeals) area so that appeals are processed under the procedural mechanism provided by sub section (2A); the notification lists the pairings by commissionerate and records subsequent substitutions and insertions by later notifications.

Constitution of appellate committees for service tax appeals establishes dual Chief Commissioner panels for specified commissionerate jurisdictions.
The Board constitutes Committees each comprising two Chief Commissioners (including Chief Commissioners of Customs and the Director General (Service Tax) where notified) to serve as appellate panels for appeals under the Finance Act; each Committee's jurisdiction is defined by the specified Commissionerates and service-tax divisions listed in the Table, and an explanation clarifies that references to Chief Commissioners of Central Excise include Customs and DG(Service Tax).

Appointment of Chief Commissioners of Customs to act as Chief Commissioners of Central Excise for committee constitution under service tax rules.
Chief Commissioners of Customs are appointed to act as Chief Commissioners of Central Excise solely for constituting the committee under section 86(1A) of the Finance Act, the appointment being made by the Central Board under powers from the Central Excise Act and rule 3 of the Service Tax Rules, as notified by the Department of Revenue.

Delegation of Authority: Commissioners authorized to exercise Central Excise powers nationwide for investigation and adjudication.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs appoints all Commissioners of Central Excise and Commissioners of Central Excise (Adjudication) and invests them with the powers of the Commissioner of Central Excise to be exercised throughout India for investigation and adjudication of cases as may be assigned by the Board.

Service tax exemption on tour operator transport services: excess tax over prescribed valuation not required to be paid.
The Central Government directed that for tour operator services relating to passenger transport (excluding package tours) operating under a contract carriage permit, for the period 1 April 2000 to 4 February 2004, any service tax in excess of that calculated on a value equal to forty per cent of the gross amount charged shall not be required to be paid where such services were not being taxed during that period in accordance with a generally prevalent practice.

Revised Service Tax ST-3 Form mandated for e-filing, substituting the prior return under amended Service Tax rules.
The notification substitutes the existing Form ST-3 in the Service Tax Rules, 1994 with a revised ST-3 and issues instructions to make the form suitable for e filing; the change is promulgated as the Service Tax (Second Amendment) Rules, 2007 and comes into force on publication in the Official Gazette.

Advance Ruling procedure updated: revised application form and Authority name require specified disclosures, documentation and fee.
Amendment substitutes the Authority's name to the Authority for Advance Rulings (Central Excise, Customs and Service Tax) and replaces the prescribed application with FORM-AAR (ST-I), prescribing applicant identification, status categories (including joint venture and wholly owned subsidiary particulars), supporting documents, registration and PAN disclosure, detailed statement of facts, the applicant's legal/factual interpretation, specified question categories (classification, valuation, applicability of notifications, admissibility of credit, liability), verification, annexures, and procedural filing requirements including quadruplicate copies and a prescribed fee by demand draft.

Temporal reference in service tax corrigendum narrowed to previous financial year, clarifying which period applies to the notification.
Corrigendum replaces the phrase "current or previous financial year" with "previous financial year", thereby confining the notification's operative condition to the previous financial year only and removing reference to the current financial year.

Service tax exemption for digital transmission of cinematograph film content allows tax-free delivery to licensed cinemas.
Exempts taxable services provided under an agreement to a person authorised to exhibit a cinematograph film from service tax where the service relates to delivery of the film content and the digitised, encrypted content is transmitted directly to a licensed cinema theatre for exhibition by satellite, microwave or terrestrial communication line and not by any physical medium.

Service Tax Exemption for clinical trial services by approved CROs, exempting testing and analysis for drug safety and efficacy.
Exempts taxable services provided by a Clinical Research Organization approved by the Drugs Controller General of India for testing and analysis of newly developed drugs, including vaccines and herbal remedies, on human participants to ascertain safety and efficacy, relieving such services specified in sub clause (zzh) of clause (105) of section 65 from service tax under section 66, under the Central Government's power in section 93(1) of the Finance Act, 1994; later rescinded by Notification No. 34/2012.

Exemption for incubatee services: service tax waived for entrepreneurs in recognized TBIs/STEPs subject to agreement and turnover limit.
Exempts taxable services provided by an entrepreneur within a recognized Technology Business Incubator or Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Park where the entrepreneur enters into an incubatee agreement to develop hi tech products and whose total business turnover did not exceed the prescribed threshold in the previous financial year; the exemption applies for three years from the date of the agreement and ceases once turnover exceeds the threshold.

Service tax exemption for services by recognized incubators and parks granted, subject to annual reporting requirements.
Exempts all taxable services provided by a Technology Business Incubator or a Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Park recognized by the National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board from service tax, subject to submission of prescribed information in two formats - one for the incubator's details and service summaries and one with per incubatee project and taxable service details - to the concerned Commissionerate before availing the exemption and annually by the 30th of June each year.

Service tax exemption for resident welfare association services to members, subject to a per member payment cap.
Exempts taxable services supplied by a resident welfare association to its members where membership is solely determined by residential status, under powers of the Finance Act, subject to the condition that total consideration charged to any individual member for those services does not exceed three thousand rupees per month.