Free banking services like cheque book issuance and ATM withdrawals is likely to remain out of the ambit of the GST, a senior finance ministry official said. The Department of Financial Services had approached its revenue counterpart to clear the confusion over the levy of Goods and Services Tax (GST) on some of the free services offered by banks to their customers. "The revenue department is likely to tell the financial services department that GST will not be levied on free banking services," an official told PTI. Amid banks getting service tax notice for non-payment of the levy on free services, the Department of Financial Services (DFS) had approached the revenue department seeking clarity on whether such services would attract GST. Every bank offers a different slab of minimum balance to customers, based on which some free services are provided.

Source: dna May 15, 2018 10:52 UTC