Features of Service Tax
Service tax is a tax levied by the government on service providers on certain service transactions, but is actually borne by the customers. It is categorized under Indirect Tax and came into existence under the Finance Act, 1994. The salient features of levy of service tax are: 1. Scope: It is leviable on taxable services ‘provided’ or ‘to be provided’ by a service provider. The services ‘to be provided’ in future are taxed only if payment in its respect is received in advance. Two separate persons required Payment to employees not covered: For charge of service tax, it is necessary that the service provider and service recipient should be two separate persons acting on ‘principal to principal basis’. Services provided by an employee to his employer are not covered service tax and, therefore, salaries or allowances paid to them cannot be charged to service tax. Continue reading