Eating out, mobile phone usage and air and rail travel will become expensive with the new Krishi Kalyan Cess (KKC) of 0.5 percent on taxable services coming into force from 1 June.
With imposition of Krishi Kalyan Cess the total incidence of Service Tax will go up to 15 percent.
KCC to be levied on all taxable services is aimed at financing and promoting initiatives to improve agriculture.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has notified that the Cess will come into force from 1 June.
The levy of KKC will add extra burden on the pockets of service recipient. The levy has already been raised from 12.36 percent to 15 percent within a span of one year only and will contribute to inflationary pressures.Amit Maheshwari, Partner, Ashok Maheshwary & Associates
Last year, the government had imposed Swachh Bharat Cess of 0.5 percent on Service Tax.
HDFC Bank through SMS has already informed its cardholders about increased rate of Service Tax from 1 June.
Prashant Deshpande, Senior Director, Deloitte in India said the input credit of KKC is not permitted to be used other than for payment output of KKC on taxable services.
By implication, therefore, Krishi Kalyan Cess will be a cost to the manufacturers availing services on which KKC is being paid by the service provider. Perhaps a remedy can lie in exempting Krishi Kalyan Cess on services provided to manufacturers.
Maheshwari further said as per the amendments pertaining to Point of Taxation, this has been clarified that in cases where invoice had been issued prior to levy of this cess and payment is receivable either in full or part thereof as on date of levy then this cess will be leviable from the date of levy (1 June, 2016).
Thus the Cess would be leviable on outstanding balances as on 31 May, 2016. This may prove to be regressive for service providers as it may not be possible to convince all the debtors particularly for the dues outstanding for relatively longer period and they may have to bear the cost for this extra levy.
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