MONISH BHALLA
“DISAPPOINTMENT COMES ONLY TO THOSE WHO MAKE
APPOINTMENT WITH THE FUTURE”
Disappointment Comes Only To Those Who Make Appointment With The Future. The ‘Aam Aadmi’ and the Stock Market both felt disappointed as they had huge expectations from the Budget 2009-2010. On the Indirect Taxation front, the shock was greater as many were hoping a cut in the rate of Service Tax, which did not happened. Even the Threshold Exemption limit was not increased as expected. However, this time the most worried community are the elite section of the society – Lawyers and Doctors. The Finance Minister this time had made the inroads to the two wealthiest fraternities of the Service Sector. The Finance (No. 2) Bill, 2009 proposes to bring under the ambit of Service Tax, Legal Consultancy Service provided by the Corporate Legal Firms by amending Section 65 (105) (zzzzm). This however does not include individual Advocates providing consultancy or assistance in any branch of Law to another individual or Firm. The only sigh of relief to the Lawyers is that the Bill also proposes that the service provided by the way of appearance before any Court, Tribunal or Authority shall not amount to Taxable Service. The Doctors in the field of Cosmetic and Plastic Surgery are proposed to be brought under the ambit of Service Tax, thereby taxing services commonly known aesthetic/cosmetic surgeries are abdominoplasty (tummy tuck); bletharoplasty (eyelid surgery); mammoplasty; buttock augmentation and lift; rhinoplasty (reshaping of nose); otoplasty (ear surgery); Rhytidectomy (face lift); liposuction (removal of fat from the body); brow lift; cheek augmentation; facial implants; lip augmentation; forehead lift; cosmetic dental surgery; orthodontics; aesthetic dentistry; laser skin surfacing.
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