The long-delayed Constitution (122ndAmendment) Bill, 2014 on GST (“122nd CAB” or “GST Bill”) has finally got the nod of the Rajya Sabha yesterday, with the Government successfully stitching together a political consensus on the GST Bill, to pave the way for much-awaited roll out of the landmark tax reform that will create a common market of
After getting the Draft Model Goods and Services Tax Law on public domain on June 14, 2016, GST has been creating a buzz amongst all stake holders, eagerly waiting for the monsoon session of the Parliament to commence with the hope that the much awaited Constitutional (122nd Amendment) Bill, 2014 on GST will be passed, which will pave the way for GST in the Country.
Central Government vide Notification No. 35/2016-ST dated June 23, 2016, has exempted taxable services with respect to which the invoice for the service has been issued on or before May 31, 2016, from the whole of KKC leviable thereon, subject to condition that the provision of service has been completed on or before May 31, 2016.
It is imperative that Trade and Industry should understand key provisions in the Draft Model GST law including the intention of the legislation along with the probable impact on their business operations. We are summarising herewith an overview and key highlights of Draft Model GST Law for easy digest:
GST is a destination based consumption tax levied at multiple stages of production and distribution of goods and services, with taxes on inputs credited against taxes on output. GST is going to be big game changer and will be one of the most significant tax reforms in the fiscal history of India to consolidate present multiple layers of Indirect taxation.
Vide the Union Budget, 2016, Service tax on Senior Advocates providing services to a Business Entity was brought under ‘Forward charge’ w.e.f. April 1, 2016. However, Service tax on services provided by individual Advocates and firm of Advocates (other than Senior Advocates) to Business Entity continued to be under ‘Reverse charge’.
Hon’ble High Court of Delhi held that no Service tax under Section 65(105)(zzzh) of the Finance Act to be levied on composite contract as there is no machinery provision for ascertaining the service element involved in the composite contract.
The Hon’ble High Court, after detailed analyses: Declared Rule 5A(2) of the Service Tax Rules, as amended, to the extent that it authorises the officers of the Service Tax Department, the audit party deputed by a Commissioner or the CAG to seek production of the documents mentioned therein on demand, as ultra vires the Finance Act and, therefore, struck it down to that extent;
Hence, after levy of Krishi Kalyan Cess (KKC), Service tax rate will increase from 14.5% to 15%, effective from June 1, 2016. In this regard, there are many queries, which require clarification. We have summarized these queries through Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) enumerated below.
Pursuing with an objective to finance and promote initiatives to improve agriculture and farmer welfare, the Government announced a new cess namely ‘Krishi Kalyan Cess’ , to be levied at 0.5% on the value of all taxable services w.e.f June 1, 2016. In this regard, a new Chapter VI was inserted in the Finance Bill, 2016, containing relevant provisions, which are applicable with enactment of the Finance Act, 2016 on May 14, 2016.
