Healthcare to become costlier

01 Mar 2011 Evaluate

Health treatment, air travel and hotel accommodation are set to become expensive with the widening of the service tax net, though the rate has been kept unchanged. The proposals relating to service tax would end in a revenue gain of Rs 4,000 crore in 2011-12. The government has sought to levy tax on all services, including diagnostic, offered by a hospital or nursing home that has central air-conditioners and more than 25 beds.


Diagnostic tests as well as services provided by doctors, who are not employees of any kind of clinical set-up, would be charged service tax. There would be an abatement of 50 per cent so that the actual burden is kept at five per cent of the value of service. All government hospitals would be outside this levy.


Besides, the ambit of service tax was also widened to cover hotel accommodation above Rs 1,000 per day, air-conditioned restaurants serving liquor, and legal services. The budgeted estimates for service tax have been pegged at Rs 82,000 crore for 2011-12, compared to the revised estimates of Rs 69,400 crore in 2010-2011.The government is also planning to create a list of services to bring several untapped sectors under the services tax net that would help the government shape the policy guidelines on GST in a better way.

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