Service Tax - Lawyers to go on Strike
DELHI advocates have decided to go on strike on March 24 against imposition of Service Tax on them. This was not the first time that tax was imposed on them – perhaps what they don't understand is that now representation before the court is also taxable.
When the then Finance Minister Chidambaram was asked why he had not imposed Service Tax on lawyers, he asked, “what service are they providing?”
In our Seminar in Mumbai, last week, I thanked the Chairman, CBEC for statutorily recognising that lawyers are providing service.
Though Chidambaram's retort was taken as a joke, he was actually stating a solemn truth. Lawyers are officers of the court and their duty is to assist the court; so this service of assisting the court cannot be really taxed.
Lawyers going on strike is perhaps contempt of LAW. If the lawyers feel that the tax is illegal, they should use their legal brains and get the levy quashed. If the levy is legal, like all law abiding citizens, they should pay the tax. The fact is many of the lawyers have not understood the implications of the levy.