« Top Headlines » Open DEMAT Account in 24 hrs  Delhi HC Rules GST Registration Cannot Be Cancelled Retrospectively Without a Clear Show Cause Notice (SCN)  Belated income tax return AY 2026-27: How to file, late filing charges and what you may lose  Major Financial Changes from August 1, 2026: ITR Deadline, RBI MPC Meeting, Tatkal Ticket Rules & More  Government proposes to ease tax relief conditions for offshore funds  TallyPrime Connected Banking: Automating Banking and Accounting  ITR Filing Deadline 2026: Is July 31 the Last Date to File Your Income Tax Return? Latest Official Update  ITR filing deadline nears: How to file income tax return online on e-filing portal - quick 15-step guide  Will the ITR Filing Deadline Be Extended Beyond July 31 for FY 2025-26? Here's the Latest Update for Taxpayers  Income Tax Refund Delayed for AY 2026-27? 5 Common Reasons Your Refund May Be Stuck and How to Fix It  ITR Filing 2026: FM Nirmala Sitharaman Asks Tax Officials to Let Honest Taxpayers Correct Genuine Mistakes  Will Your FCNR Deposit Stay Tax-Free After Returning to India? Tax Rules Explained for NRIs «  Tax officer as business manager... No service tax on defence construction in Cantt area... » Service tax on IUC may take a while July, 14th 2006 The issue of applicability of service tax on interconnect usage charges may take a while to be resolved.    The revenue department has once again sought inputs from the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) on the issue before finalising its stance.    Cellular operators have resisted the attempts of the tax department to bring interconnect usage charges (IUC) under service tax. The IUC refers to the charge payable by one service provider to the other for free flow of calls across different telecom networks.    No technical service or any other service is at present rendered by one telecom operator to another. If there is no interconnection between telecom operators, then subscribers of say MTNL or BSNL would not be able to speak to Bharti or Hutch subscribers.    IUC charges are part of the total subscriber bill collected by service providers. Service tax is already paid by service providers on the carriage charge and termination charge. The levy of service tax on IUC would be tantamount to charging of service tax twice for the same call, a COAI official said.    The COAI has also pointed out that there will be no revenue gain to the government from the levy of service tax on the IUC since the payment of service tax on this will be set off against the output service tax liability.    Demand for payment of service tax on the IUC charges only creates administrative hassles and because there is no revenue gain to the government it only increases inefficiencies in the economy, the association has said.