Service Tax – Negative List from 01 July
ADDRESSING the Chief Commissioners of Customs and Central Excise, yesterday, the FM said, "A ‘Negative List' approach for taxation of services is being introduced in the current fiscal. Under the new approach, all services except those in the ‘Negative List' or otherwise exempted, would come into the tax net. The new system will come into effect from 1st July, 2012. The new comprehensive approach to taxation of services is a shining piece of tax reform, preparatory to the introduction of GST. In a nutshell, the comprehensive approach to taxation of services implies larger tax base with limited number of exemptions".
Are we all ready for it? Of late, the policy of the Government is, "first implement the scheme and then discuss whether it would work". After all, for all the mistakes and incompetence of the Government, they can punish the assessees after five years.
The FM told the Chief Commissioners, "You all at the senior level cannot remain insensitive to the genuine concerns of your workforce, be it the legitimate demand for a timely promotion or holding of DPCs or timely sanction of annual increments, or payment of retirement benefits."
The fact of the matter is that all these measures are promptly done at the field level by almost all the Chief Commissioners – timely promotions are given, annual increments are now a very routine affair and retirement benefits are given mostly on the day of retirement. But the field is disgusted with the Board and the Government for not giving timely promotions and transfers. There are hundreds of vacant posts at the senior level, not because of the Chief Commissioners, but because of the Board and the Government. Instead of lecturing to the Chief Commissioners, the FM should have checked up what is happening right under his nose.