Service Tax - Yoga Retrospectively Exempted
AS per Sl.No.4 of Notification No. 25/2012-ST, dated 20.06.2012, Services by an entity registered under section 12AA of the Income Tax Act, 1961 by way of charitable activities, are exempted. Para 2k of the Notification defines charitable activities inter alia as activities relating to advancement of religion, spirituality or Yoga.
Yoga was included in the definition only by Notification No. 20/2015-ST, dated 21.10.2015 which raised a question as to whether yoga was taxable for the period from 01.07.2012 to 20.10.2015. Now the Government has issued a Section 11C notification directing that the service tax payable under section 66B of the Finance Act, 1994, on the service by way of advancement of Yoga provided by entities registered under section 12AA of Income-tax Act, 1961 in the said period, shall not be required to be paid.
Why couldn't they do it in October 2015 when they exempted yoga? But how do you keep babus busy? (at our cost, of course)
Notification No. , Dated: September 26, 2016