Service tax payment deadline extended for assessees in Puducherry, aligning them with Tamil Nadu payment provisions.
The Service Tax (Fourth Amendment) Rules, 2015 amend rule 6(1), fourth proviso of the Service Tax Rules, 1994 by substituting "State of Tamil Nadu" with "State of Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry (except Mahe & Yanam)". The amendment, issued under section 94 of the Finance Act, 1994 and effective on publication in the Official Gazette, extends the service tax payment deadline for assessees in the Union Territory of Puducherry (except Yanam and Mahe) for the month of November 2015 to 20.12.2015.

Service tax payment deadline extension allows Tamil Nadu assessees until 20 December to remit November service tax.
An amendment to rule 6(1) of the Service Tax Rules, 1994 inserts a proviso allowing assessees in Tamil Nadu to pay the service tax for November 2015 to the credit of the Central Government by the 20th day of December 2015; the Service Tax (Third Amendment) Rules, 2015 come into force on publication in the Official Gazette under powers of section 94 of the Finance Act, 1994.

Composition option for Swachh Bharat Cess allows alternative payment calculation instead of statutory cess rate within a year.
Inserts sub rule (7D) in rule 6 permitting persons liable under sub rules 7, 7A, 7B or 7C to discharge Swachh Bharat Cess by paying an amount equal to total service tax liability under those sub rules multiplied by 0.5 and divided by 14, during any calendar month or quarter, instead of paying the statutory cess rate; the option, once exercised, applies uniformly to such services and cannot be changed during the financial year.

Swachh Bharat Cess applicability extended by applying prior service tax notification provisions mutatis mutandis to the cess.
The notification provides that the provisions of Notification No. 30/2012 - Service Tax shall be applicable mutatis mutandis for the purposes of the Swachh Bharat Cess, importing the earlier notification's definitions, chargeability and compliance mechanisms into the cess under delegated powers in the Finance Act.

Swachh Bharat Cess on abated value now charged only on specified taxable portion under service tax valuation rules.
Specifies that Swachh Bharat Cess is leviable only on the percentage of taxable value specified for each service in Notification No. 26/2012-Service Tax, i.e., on the abated portion, and clarifies that the value of taxable services for this cess shall be determined in accordance with the Service Tax (Determination of Value) Rules, 2006.

Swachh Bharat Cess applicability clarified: leviable on taxable services from mid-November with valuation and exemption rules.
Swachh Bharat Cess is leviable on taxable services from 15th November, 2015, but the notification exempts any amount exceeding the cess calculated at the prescribed effective rate. The cess is not leviable on services exempt from or not chargeable to service tax. Levy is limited to the percentage of taxable value specified for particular services in the referenced notification, and taxable value for the cess is determined under the Service Tax (Determination of Value) Rules, 2006.

Swachh Bharat Cess commencement: Chapter VI of the Finance Act set to take effect from the notified commencement date.
Appointment of the commencement date designates the operative start of the Swachh Bharat Cess by bringing into force the tax provisions contained in Chapter VI of the Finance Act, 2015. The Central Government has appointed 15th November 2015 as the date from which Chapter VI will take effect, thereby activating the statutory framework for imposition and administration of the cess within the existing service tax architecture.

Service tax exemption extended to business facilitators and correspondents for rural basic bank account and insurance outreach activities.
The notification substitutes and adds clauses to extend Service Tax exemption coverage to business facilitators and business correspondents performing account opening, cash deposits and withdrawals, e life certificate procurement and Aadhaar seeding for Basic Savings Bank Deposit Accounts in rural branches; it covers intermediaries to those facilitators and extends similar coverage for insurance company facilitators in rural areas. It inserts a definition of Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account per Reserve Bank guidelines and adds yoga alongside religion and spirituality in the specified exemption clause.

Service tax relief: retrospective non payment directed for bank agent remittance services under specified past practice.
The central government directs that service tax otherwise payable on services provided by Indian banks or other agents to Money Transfer Service Operators in relation to remittance of foreign currency from outside India to India for the period 1 July 2012 to 13 October 2014 shall not be required to be paid, having regard to a generally prevalent practice of non levy during that period and exercising statutory powers under the Central Excise Act as applied to service tax.

Delegation of Chief Commissioner powers: Principal Commissioners with additional charge may exercise those functions under service tax rules.
Principal Commissioners given additional charge are authorised to exercise the powers of the Chief Commissioner for the jurisdiction specified in Notification No. 20/2014-Service Tax. The delegation is made under clause (b) of section 2 of the Central Excise Act and rule 3 of the Central Excise and Service Tax rules, and is effected by the Central Board of Excise and Customs via the cited notification and Office Order conferring additional charge.

Service tax exemption for RLNG regasification and transport under Power System Development Fund, subject to operator appointment and certification.
Exempts service tax for re gasification of imported LNG and transportation of incremental RLNG to specified gas based power plants under the Power System Development Fund Scheme, subject to appointment of GAIL/GSPCL as e bid RLNG Operators, eligibility limited to stranded and certain domestic gas plants with PLF below target, PSDF support confined to incremental RLNG fired generation, prescribed certification by CEA, GAIL, plants and Discoms within a stipulated period, and ineligibility for captive generating plants.

Effective Date of Exemption Amendment: specified service tax exemptions for job work and admission services come into force.
The Central Government, under section 93(1) of the Finance Act, 1994, appoints 1-6-2015 as the date on which sub-paragraphs (ix) and (xii) of paragraph 1 and sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph 2 of the Service Tax notification dated 1 March 2015 shall come into force, thereby activating amendments concerning job work (alcoholic liquors for human consumption) and services by way of right to admission under the Mega Exemption Notification.

Effective date for revised compounded service tax rates appointed; specified notification provisions to come into force.
The Central Government appoints 1 June 2015 as the date on which specified provisions of Notification No. 05/2015-sub clauses (a), (b) and (c) and item (A) of sub clause (d) of clause (ii) of sub paragraph (e) of paragraph 2-shall come into force, thereby implementing revised rates of the compounded levy under Rules 7, 7A, 7B and 7C.

Service tax rate increase takes effect with specified Finance Act provisions commencing; government and Swachh Bharat Cess dates deferred.
The notification appoints 1 June 2015 as the date on which specified provisions of the Finance Act, 2015-namely clauses (a), (c) and (f) of section 107, section 108, sub-sections (2), (3) and (4) of section 109, section 153 and section 159-shall come into force, and declares the increased service tax rate effective from that date while deferring separate notification for services by government/local authorities to business entities and for the Swachh Bharat Cess.

Service tax definition amendment removes chit entry, altering the scope of taxable services under the Finance Act.
The Central Government omits clause 'a' in paragraph 2 of Notification No.26/2012 Service Tax, removing the definition entry relating to chits and thereby altering the definitional scope applicable to chit-related services under the abatement notification; the amendment is effected by Notification No.13/2015 ST issued under the Finance Act and published in the Gazette.

Service tax exemption extended to specified Pradhan Mantri schemes and APY contribution collection under statutory amendment.
Amendment inserts into the principal notification specified exemptions: Entry 26 adds Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojna; Entry 26A adds Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana; and a new Entry 26B exempts services by way of collection of contribution under Atal Pension Yojana (APY). These changes are made under the power conferred by section 93(1) of the Finance Act, 1994.

Service tax exemption for services supplied against SEIS scrips, subject to scrip validation, debiting, and payment obligations.
Exemption of service tax is allowed for taxable services provided against a SEIS duty credit scrip issued under the Foreign Trade Policy, subject to conditions: scrip registration with Customs; presentation with the service provider's invoice indicating jurisdictional officer and tax details; Customs debiting the service tax on the scrip and notifying the officer; debit date treated as tax payment date; obligations to pay any short-paid tax and interest; validation by the jurisdictional officer; retention of an attested debited scrip; and entitlement to drawback or CENVAT credit against the debited validated amount.

Service tax exemption for services under MEIS scrip permits service tax debit validation and entitlement to drawback or credit.
Taxable services provided against an MEIS duty credit scrip are exempt from service tax provided the scrip is registered with the Customs Authority and presented with prescribed invoice documentation; Customs shall debit the notional service tax on the reverse of the scrip and notify the Central Excise Officer, whose validation on the scrip and record of payment enables the holder to claim drawback or CENVAT credit. Short-paid tax or interest arising from point-of-taxation or rate differences must be paid by the scrip holder, and debited scrips must be presented to the Central Excise Officer within thirty days with an undertaking.

Resident firm classification enables advance ruling access for specified business entities under service tax framework.
Specification of resident firm as a class of persons eligible to seek advance rulings under the Finance Act for service tax; the notification extends advance ruling access to resident firms and defines "firm" to include partnerships, limited liability partnerships (including those without a company partner), sole proprietorships, and One Person Companies, and adopts the Income tax Act meaning of resident insofar as it applies to a resident firm.

Abatement adjustments for taxable services: revised air passenger abatement and CENVAT credit condition alters service tax computation.
Amendment to Notification No.26/2012 revises abatement table entries: it substitutes the column (4) entry for Sl. No. 2 to require that CENVAT credit on inputs, capital goods and input services used for providing the taxable service has not been taken under the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004; makes Sl. No. 3 the same; omits Sl. No. 8; substitutes Sl. No. 5 to segregate air passenger transport into economy and other than economy with abatement entries and the same CENVAT credit non-taken condition; and alters column (3) entries for Sl. Nos. 7 and 10. The notification prescribes its commencement date.