Insurance Services in Rural Areas now in Service Tax Net

Seeks to amend notification No. 25/2012-ST dated 20.06.2012 so as to (i) withdraw the exemption from service tax for services provided or agreed to be provided by a person located in non-taxable territory to a person located in non-taxable territory by way of transportation of goods by a vessel from a place outside India up to the customs station of clearance in India; (ii) exempt services provided by a business facilitator or a business correspondent to a banking company with respect to accounts in its rural area branch.

[Service Tax Notification No. 01 dated 12^th January 2017]

In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 93 of the Finance Act, 1994 (32 of 1994), the Central Government being satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest so to do, hereby makes the following further amendments in the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue) No.25/2012-Service Tax, dated the 20thJune, 2012, published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (i) vide number G.S.R. 467 (E), dated the 20thJune, 2012, namely:-

In the said notification, in the opening paragraph,-

(i) in entry 29, for item (g), the following item shall be substituted, namely:-

“(g) business facilitator or a business correspondent to a banking company with respect to accounts in its rural area branch.”

(ii) in entry 34, for the proviso, the following proviso shall be substituted with effect from 22nd day of January, 2017, namely,-

“Provided that the exemption shall not apply to –

(i) online information and database access or retrieval services received by persons specified in clause (a); or

(ii) services by way of transportation of goods by a vessel from a place outside India up to the customs station of clearance in India;”.

[F. No. 354/42/2016-TRU]