CBIC Notifies Amendment to Service Tax Powers Delegation

The Government of India, through the Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue), has issued Notification No. 01/2023–Service Tax dated 2 March 2023, amending Notification No. 22/2014–Service Tax of 16 September 2014. The notification has been issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) in exercise of powers under the Central Excise Act, 1944, the Finance Act, 1994, the Service Tax Rules, 1994, the Central Excise Rules, 2017, and the saving provisions contained in Section 174 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.

The amendment inserts a new Sl. No. 8A in the Table of the principal notification. By virtue of this insertion, the Additional Assistant Director, Goods and Services Tax Intelligence, and the Additional Assistant Director, Audit, are empowered to exercise the powers of a Superintendent under the Service Tax framework. This effectively extends statutory authority to these officers in relation to legacy Service Tax matters.

Although Service Tax was subsumed under the Goods and Services Tax regime from 1 July 2017, proceedings relating to the pre-GST period continue under the saving clause of Section 174 of the CGST Act, 2017. The present amendment strengthens the administrative mechanism for handling such legacy matters by formally delegating powers to specified officers. The notification comes into force on the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.