Negative list of Services

In terms of Section 66B of the Finance Act 1994, service tax will be leviable on all services provided or agreed to be provided in the taxable territory by a person to another for a consideration other than the services specified in the negative list, Therefore negative list of services go out of the ambit of chargeability of service tax.

Section 66D specified the list of services which are not taxable. The list of services refereed as negative list. Thus all the services are taxable other than those services specified in the negative list (section 66D). There are 17 heads of services specified in the negative list as follows.

Sl. No.	Services
(a)	services by Government or a local authority -excluding the following services to the extent they are not covered elsewhere       i.            services by the Department of Posts by way of speed post, express parcel post, life insurance and agency services provided to a person other than Government    ii.            services in relation to an aircraft or a vessel, inside or outside the precincts of a port or an airport; iii.            transport of goods or passengers; or  iv.            (any service), other than services covered under clauses (i) to (iii) above, provided to business entities;
(b)	Services by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
(c)	Services by a foreign diplomatic mission located in India
(d)	Services relating to agriculture by way of       i.            agricultural operations directly related to production of any agricultural produce including cultivation, harvesting, threshing, plant protection or testing;    ii.            supply of farm labour; iii.            processes carried out at an agricultural farm including tending, pruning, cutting, harvesting, drying, cleaning, trimming, sun drying, fumigating, curing, sorting, grading, cooling or bulk packaging and such like operations which do not alter the essential characteristics of agricultural produce but make it only marketable for the primary market;  iv.            renting or leasing of agro machinery or vacant land with or without a structure incidental to its use;     v.            loading, unloading, packing, storage or warehousing of agricultural produce;  vi.            agricultural extension services; vii.            services by any Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee or Board or services provided by a commission agent for sale or purchase of agricultural produce;
(e)	trading of goods;
(f)	Services by way of carrying out any process amounting to manufacture or production of goods excluding alcoholic liquor for human consuption;
(g)	selling of space for advertisements in print media;
(h)	service by way of access to a road or a bridge on payment of toll charges;
(i)	Betting, gambling or lottery; [Explanation—For the purposes of this clause the expression “betting, gambling or lottery” shall not include the activity specified in explanation 2 of clause (44) of Section 66B]
(j)	[*****] Omitted Prior to its omission read as under [admission to entertainment events or access to amusement facilities;]
(k)	transmission or distribution of electricity by an electricity transmission or distribution utility;
(l)	[*****] Omitted by finance act 2016 Prior to its omission read as under [services by way of—       i.            pre-school education and education up to higher secondary school or equivalent;    ii.            education as a part of a curriculum for obtaining a qualification recognised by any law for the time being in force; iii.            education as a part of an approved vocational education course;]*
(m)	services by way of renting of residential dwelling for use as residence;
(n)	services by way of—       i.            extending deposits, loans or advances in so far as the consideration is represented by way of interest or discount;    ii.            inter se sale or purchase of foreign currency amongst banks or authorised dealers of foreign exchange or amongst banks and such dealers;
(o)	service of transportation of passengers, with or without accompanied belongings, by—       i.            [a stage carriage;]*    ii.            railways in a class other than— A.  first class; or B.  an air-conditioned coach; iii.            metro, monorail or tramway;  iv.            inland waterways;     v.            public transport, other than predominantly for tourism purpose, in a vessel between places located in India; and  vi.            metered cabs or auto rickshaws;
(p)	services by way of transportation of goods —       i.            by road except the services of— A.  a goods transportation agency; or B.  a courier agency;    ii.            [by an aircraft or a vessel from a place outside India to the first customs station of landing in India;]* or iii.            by inland waterways;
(q)	funeral, burial, crematorium or mortuary services including transportation of the deceased.

* Omitted by finance act 2016

The Amendments in the Finance Act 2016 for Section 66D are

In the 1994 Act, in section 66D,—

(a) clause (l) shall be omitted;

(b) with effect from the 1st day of June, 2016—

(i) in clause (o), sub-clause (i) shall be omitted;

(ii) in clause (p), sub-clause (ii) shall be omitted.