The government on Wednesday exempted business auxiliary services provided by sub-brokers to stock brokers, or by anybody to someone engaged in manufacturing of excisable items like pharmaceuticals, medicines and perfumes from paying service tax.

In a notification, the Central Board of Excise and Customs said the business auxiliary service provided by a sub-broker to a broker in relation to sale or purchase of securities would be exempted from service tax.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has proposed in the Budget to amend the definition of business auxiliary service to exclude those services from the purview of service tax on which excise duty is leviable.

In another notification, the CBEC said the government had exempted the business auxiliary service provided by any person in relation to the manufacture of pharmaceutical products, medicines, perfume cosmetics and toilet preparations containing alcohol from the service tax leviable on it.