Service tax on construction: notification-based levy affirms builders' liability despite valuation challenges in an earlier period.
Service tax was applied to construction services by notifications that treated construction as a taxable service and required that the gross amount charged include value of goods and materials; abated rates applied only where the price charged included land value. Notifications fixed the builders' liability and effective taxable fractions, later adjusted by further notifications and budget measures. A court decision found the levy invalid for a prior period for lack of statutory valuation mechanism, but the executive's statutory power to regulate by notification and the notification language on valuation and abatement underpin the administrative levy and builders' liability, and the negative list regime thereafter generally subjects construction to tax. (AI Summary)