Starting December 1st, any download you make from an overseas website will incur a 15% service tax, according to the newly amended rules made to the ‘Place of Provisions of Services Rules’ (PPSR) for ‘online information and database access or retrieval services’.
Indian suppliers of digital services already incur this tax, but overseas suppliers are currently excluded under the provision, which is now about to change.
The amendment impacts overseas companies providing various services like advertisements, web subscriptions, cloud hosting, music, e-books and gaming, said the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) notification.
The definition of ‘online information and database access or retrieval services’ has also been changed. It now means services whose “delivery is mediated by information technology over the internet or an electronic network and the nature of which renders their supply essentially automated and involving minimal human intervention, and impossible to ensure in the absence of information technology”.
