Swachh Bharat Cess: India Inc Cessed Out?

This Diwali brought a new dhamaka for India Inc. The govt announced the levy of a 0.5% Swachh Bharat Cess on all taxable services. To be clear – this levy was proposed in the budget itself but no date was determined then. On November 6th the CBEC issued a notification saying the cess would be levied effective November 15th. And so starting yesterday – the service tax rate has increased from 14% to 14.5%.  But like in all things tax – this levy has stirred a controversy regarding the lack of notice, unanswered questions and most importantly the lack of input credit. All things industry has been grumbling about through the Diwali week. To discuss why India Inc is so cessed out Menaka Doshi of CNBC TV18 is joined by two tax experts – Harishanker Subramaniam, Indirect Tax Head at EY and L Badri Narayanan of Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan.