Service tax

• Four services brought under service tax net namely, asset management service provided under ULIP, services provided by stock/commodity exchanges and clearing houses; right to use goods, in cases where VAT is not payable; and customised software, to bring it on par with packaged software and other IT services.
  
  
• Threshold limit of exemption for small service providers increased from Rs.8 lakhs per year to Rs.10 lakh per year; about 65,000 small service providers go out of the tax net.