a) What is Service Tax Registration ?

Service tax is a tax on services provided in India. Service tax is levied under the Finance Act, 1994 on certain services as specified by the Government.

b) Who has to Pay Service Tax ?

Service tax is to be paid by the receiver of the service. However, service tax is a form of indirect taxation. Therefore, the person who provides the taxable service on receipt of service charges along with the service tax is responsible for paying the service tax portion to the Government. Also, small scale service providers who provide less than Rs.10 lakhs of taxable service a year is exempt from service tax.

c) What are taxable services ?

Almost all services provided in India are taxable. To find the complete list of taxable services, refer to Section 65(105) of the Finance Act, 1994. All taxable services as on 1.5.2011 is listed in Appendix-1.

d) What is the rate of Service Tax ?

Service Tax Rate Now 18%

f)Who must obtain service tax registration ?

Any person who has provided taxable service of value exceeding Rs.9 lakhs in the preceding financial year is required to obtain service tax registration. When a person commences a new business, he/she is required to obtain service tax registration within 30 days of commencement, if the business will have taxable service in excess of Rs.9 lakhs.

h) How much time taken for obtaining service tax registration certificate?

Service tax registration certificate must be issued by the Government within a period of seven days from the date of submission of application ST-1 along with all the relevant documents. In case the registration certificate is not issued within seven days, the registration applied for is deemed to have been granted.