The present system of selectively taxing specific services owes its origin to 1994 when service tax was first introduced as a part of the Budget and not through a separate Service Tax Act. At that time, even the constitutionality of service tax was an issue because there was no entry for service tax in List 1 of the Constitution. The government began only with three services, namely, telephone, insurance and stock brokerage. The list was expanded in every subsequent Budget.

<p><table width='100%' border=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td style='FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 18px; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; COLOR: #0253B7;'><B>Sukumar Mukhopadhyay:</B> Have GST serviced, please</td></tr><tr><tr><td style='FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 11px; '>It

Sukumar Mukhopadhyay: Have GST serviced, please

It?s time to abandon the selective approach in favour of a comprehensive service tax

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