Service tax is levied on specified services and service provider is responsible for payment of tax to the government on self-assessment basis. Service Tax is administered by the Central Excise Commissionerates working under the Central Board of Excise & Customs (CBEC), Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
Current rate of service tax is 12% + 3% cess, which results in the effective rate of 12.36%.
Some of the services on which service tax is chargeable include telephone, stockbroker, General Insurance, advertising agencies, air travel agents, manpower recruitment agents, interior decorators, architects, real estate agents etc.