Service Tax - Transport of Passengers by Air - CBEC Issues Draft Circular
IT seems Board has received representations seeking clarifications. Now Board has issued a draft circular detailing the clarifications proposed.
Seat is related to Journey - food is not: Board clarifies that Re-confirmation fees, date-change fee, upgrade fee, preferred seat charges, additional collection in the nature of differential ticket fare towards the journey and unaccompanied minor charges are directly related charges, while Sky-meal-on-order and escort charges are not directly related to the journey. Abatement will be allowed on directly related charges while it would not be allowed on charges not directly related to the journey.
While you pay 4.8% Service Tax, your dog will pay12%: Your Dog and the extra bag will not get abatement, as the Board draft Circular clarifies that excess baggage and pet charges are leviable to service tax without abatement.
Service Tax on Cancelled tickets will depend on How the invoice is raised: If the Airline retains a part of the ticket money as cancellation charges, abatement is allowed, but if the whole ticket money is refunded and cancellation fee is collected separately, no abatement is allowed.
You can send your comments, views and suggestions to jm.kennedy@nic.in by 15th October 2012.
But when are they going to convert these draft circulars into valid circulars? What is the fate of the previous draft circulars?
And why they do not plan to issue any circular regarding train travel? They may come up with that after a few months - but the Railways did not wait - for after all they run trains on track - and don't manufacture defective notifications which can be corrected surreptitiously.
CBEC Draft Circular in F. No.354 /146/2012 - TRU., Dated: September 27, 2012