No service tax for hotels, eating joints in U'khand: Fin Min

All hotels, guest houses, clubs and eating joints like restaurants in calamity-hit Uttarakhand have been given exemption from service tax by the Finance Ministry.
The move is aimed at providing support to local population, a large part of whom depends on hospitality industry for their survival.
The exemption is given to services like renting of a room in a hotel, inn, guest house, club, campsite or other commercial place meant for residential or lodging purposes and for the ones provided in relation to serving of food or beverages by a restaurant and eating joint or mess, a Finance Ministry order said.

The ad-hoc exemption issued yesterday is applicable till March 31, 2014. A service tax of 12.36 per cent is levied on these services.
Floods and landslides on June 16 had caused extensive damage in Uttarakhand.
"There is a need to provide support to ensure sustenance for the local population by revival of the hospitality industry," it said, adding that the decision to exempt these services was taken in public interest as also there are circumstances of "exceptional nature".
As many as 4,120 persons, including 92 foreign nationals, have been reported missing in Uttarakhand after the calamity, as per a latest official data.