Follow Us :

With the introduction of the Negative List of Services, all eyes, including those of the taxmen and the taxpayers were looking forward to a simplified tax regime. To add to the work of the taxmen and the worries of the taxpayers, the Government had introduced the reverse charge mechanism which has been made applicable to certain specified services. These specified services did not enjoy the threshold limit of exemption and an additional onus was placed on the service recipient for discharging the liability of service tax. Three years and several amendments later, those eyes are now glaring into the near future to welcome Goods and Service Tax (GST). Till the same is introduced and enacted, there have been several services which were earlier exempt and are now being brought into the service tax net.

On February 28, 2015, the Finance Minister expressed his intent to widen the service tax base by ‘slightly pruning the negative list of services and withdrawal of certain other exemptions’. In the said context, with effect from April 1, 2015, the following services were isolated from the service tax exemptions list and were made taxable

  • Services provided by a mutual fund agent or a distributor to a mutual fund or assets management company and
  • selling or marketing agent of lottery ticket to a distributor

Further, the aforesaid services (herein after also referred to as ‘subject services’) have been brought under the pre-existing list of services which are subjected to tax under the Reverse Charge Mechanism.

While the rest of the country was debating on the applicability of cesses and the increase in Service Tax rate to 14%, an important concern area appears to have been overlooked. What would be the position of tax for the aforesaid services which have been provided in the months of March, but payment for the service has been received in April. At which point would these services be subjected to tax and in whose hands?

Under the applicable charging section which governs taxation of services, all services other than those mentioned under the negative list, provided or agreed to be provided in the taxable territory by one person to another shall be subjected to service tax.

Notwithstanding the fact that the subject services for the months prior to April 2015 were exempted on account of exemption notification, if one has to determine the point when the service is deemed to be provided, reference needs to be sought to the Point of Taxation Rules, 2011 (‘POTR’). As per the generalised rule (i.e. Rule 3) of POTR, the point of taxation shall be the time when the invoice for services provided or agreed to be provided is issued. In the present case, prior to the Budgetary Amendments, the point of taxation, shall be the date of issuance of the invoice for services provided by Mutual Fund Agents and marketing agents of lottery tickets (i.e March 2015). Therefore, services shall be deemed to be provided prior to the date from when they were subjected to tax. Further, on account of the exemption prevailed prior to April 2015, the issue of determining the onus of tax would not arise.

Insertion of the aforesaid services into the tax regime under the reverse charge mechanism brings us to Rule 7 of the POTR, which specifically provides for the point of tax applicable under the said mechanism. The said Rule commences with a ‘Notwithstanding clause’ which has precedence over the generalised Rule 3 and states that the point of taxation in such cases shall be the date on which payment is made to the service provider, considering the same is made within 3 months of the date of invoice.

On the basis of a combined reading of the above provisions read with the Budgetary Amendments, it is pertinent to note that removal of an exemption and subjecting it to tax under the reverse charge mechanism has caused the point of taxation to migrate from the date of raising the invoice (i.e. prior to April 1, 2015) to the date of payment by the Service recipient (i.e. post April 2015). On account of the above, would a delay in payment of consideration by the service recipient subject the same to tax under the reverse charge mechanism?

Seeking recourse to the aforesaid query, a reference is sought to the Taxation of Service – An Education Guide which clarifies that the onus of payment of tax for a service provider and a service receiver when a service is governed under Rule 7. The illustration mentioned therein pertains to a scenario where a service is subjected to partial reverse charge and the onus to discharge tax rests on the service provider and service receiver. Accordingly the point of taxation for the recipient of services shall be the date of payment whereas the service provider would be liable to tax on the date of issue of invoice. Further for services whose point of taxation has been determined and whole liability has been affixed before the introduction of the reverse charge mechanism, the service recipient shall not be subjected to any ‘additional’ liability under the subject tax regime. Both the aforesaid clarifications do not cover a scenario where a service, earlier exempt, is now taxable in the hands of the service recipient. The clarification pertaining to additional liability would not apply, since the subject service, which was earlier exempt, shall now be taxed in the hands of the service recipient.

Concluding from the above, one wonders if it is a prudent business practice to make payments to the service provider before April 1, 2015, whilst the mega exemption still covers the subject services or would it be beneficial to pay the service tax under the reverse charge mechanism and avail the credit of the same by the recipient of services. Service providers too have some thing to consider, as to whether treating their output service as an exempt service is more beneficial or not, in line with Rule 6 of the Cenvat Credit Rules. A clarification from department to curve out the said issue is expected by the MF industry.

While the above pruning carried out to the mega exemption list, uncovers more hurdles for the taxpayers, all one can do is hopefully look towards the horizon for the State of the Art indirect tax regime, called Goods and Service Tax. Existence and applicability of the reverse charge mechanism under the proposed legislation still awaits some light.

(The article is written by Jigar Doshi and Farhad Dalal working as Senior Manager and Manager at SKP Business Consulting LLP.)

Join Taxguru’s Network for Latest updates on Income Tax, GST, Company Law, Corporate Laws and other related subjects.

0 Comments

  1. Emani Vishwanath says:

    “Accordingly the point of taxation for the recipient of services shall be the date of payment whereas the service provider would be liable to tax on the date of issue of invoice”
    in case of Mutual Fund Transactions the date on which transaction is completed is to be taken as date of invoice of service and statement of account to that extent is a valid proof of service.
    Accordingly the services of MF agents vide Notification 5/2015-ST, Dated: March 01 (III) after item (EE), the following items shall be inserted with effect from the 1st day of April 2015, namely:-
    “(EEA) in relation to service provided or agreed to be provided by a mutual fund agent or distributor to a mutual fund or asset management company, the recipient of the service;
    , 2015 is effective only from 1st April, 2015
    The agreement for providing service is over when the units are allotted to the investor

    regards

  2. jitendra aya says:

    Some business(switch from one equity fund to Tax Saver fund in same AMC) was done in a particular mutual fund AMC on Mar 19 2015. The switch-in in the Tax saver fund was materialised on 22/23 mar 2015. The payout of business done before 20 mar 2015 was released without deducting service tax. But this particular switch transaction was taxed at 12.36%, the reason quoted by AMC being that switch-in date of funds i.e 22/23 Mar 2015 will be considered.

    Sir, I would whether this is as per the existing rule?

    Kindly reply.

    Thanks and Regards,
    Jitendra.

  3. Sunil Jain says:

    Due date of Insurance Premium is 29/03/2015, intimation for payment of premium including service tax @ 12.36% i.e. total amount due is Rs. 1123.60 payable with a grace period of 15 days.
    Policy holder pay the premium on 05/04/2015, What will be the rate of service tax 12.36% or 14% or how much amount payable on 05/04/2015, whether it will be Rs. 1123.60 considering the intimation having Service Tax @ 12.36% or Rs. 1140/- considering applicable rate after 01/04/2015 14%.
    Sunil Jain

  4. Sunil Jain says:

    Whether a Insurance Premium due on 29/03/2015 includes service tax @ 12.36%, bill raised or intimation receive by policy holder to pay the premium on 29/03/2015 with a grace period of 15 days.
    What will be the rate of Service Tax, if premium paid on 05/04/2015.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search Post by Date
March 2024
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031