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Relief to more export-related services

NEW DELHI: The Union Government on Tuesday extended the exemption of service tax to three more services as a part of its ongoing exercise to provide relief to exporters hit by the appreciating rupee against the U.S. dollar. The three services included in the relief package pertain to couriers, goods transport agencies and the Railways.

According to a Finance Ministry notification here, the exemption from the service tax levy is to cover services provided by transport agencies for movement of export goods from factory to export outlets such as container depots, ports and airports.

Likewise, the services provided for transportation of export goods by rail would be exempt from the tax, the statement said. This apart, “courier services provided to an exporter in relation to transportation of document, goods or articles, to a destination outside India” have been included in the list of exempted category of services.

With the inclusion these three services, the number of services under tax exemption as a measure of relief to the rupee-hit exporters goes up to 13. In April last, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath had declared that the Government would exempt various services related to export activities from the purview of service tax. Earlier, refund of service tax paid by exporters was extended to services including ports, general insurance, inspection and certification agency, business exhibition, storage and warehousing.

Hailing the extension of service tax exemption, the Federation of Indian Export Organisations pointed out that certain major services related to exports were still out of the ambit of tax exemption. In a statement, its President Ganesh Kumar Gupta said: “Services like payment of commission to foreign agent, overseas travel, professional services and use of custom house agents are still not exempt from tax. Unless these services are included, the impact on exporters would be marginal.”

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