Banking Services to SEZ Units Out of Tax Net - The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has confirmed the government decision of exempting banking services to units positioned in any of the special economic zones from payment of service tax. The confirmation was made in response to the query raised by Indian Banks Association (IBA).
This comes as a welcome relief both for the banks and the promoters of SEZs. Even though there was perceptible rush among banks for setting up OBUs (offshore banking units) in SEZs, the trend is limited to sectors governed by the crysts and troughs of the global economy, such as commodity export. The global commodity export prices had earlier seen a significant downturn and that had consequently affected the business of OBUs.