Govt considering Swachh Bharat Cess on all services: Srcs

In a bid to mop up revenues for the Swacch Bharat Abhiyan, the government is planning to impose a cess on all services which come under the Service Tax regime. Earlier, there were reports that a cess may be imposed on telecom services but now sources tell CNBC-TV18 that all services might come under the ambit. An announcement is expected in the Budget.

The ministry of sanitation has sought Rs 1 lakh crore for a period of 5 years to fund Swachh Bharat Mission for this purpose. While Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) contributions are being made by corporate India, the government is realising that it needs to create a specific flow of funds which is likely to be achieved by way of Swachh Bharat Cess. According to the proposal mooted by the finance ministry Swachh Bharat Cess could be anywhere in the range of 0.02 to 0.05 percent.

This is likely to be introduced by way of an amendment to the Service Tax Act which will be a part of the Finance Act. In the Budget session itself the cess will be collected for a specific purpose primarily funding of infrastructure for sanitation and for other sort of machinery for cleanliness purpose.