Getting married to be a lot costlier now

Marriages have just got costlier. Prices of most marriage-related services have shot up with the government including them in the service tax net.

With the imposition of 10 per cent service tax on caterers, decorators, shamiana contractors in the Budget, rates for these services have gone up significantly.

"In marriages, caterers, decorators and shamiana contractors form a major component of the costs. By bringing these service providers into the service tax net, the government has increased the cost of marriage. The customer will have to bear the additional tax burden as the additional cost will be passed on to the customers," Narendra Somani, chairman and managing director, The Grand Bhagwati, said.

"Chidambaram attempted to fulfill his dream of 1997-1998 by reintroducing his old-time favourites outdoor caterers, shamiana and pandal contractors in the service tax net. The introduction of 13 new services in the tax bracket is a major cause of concern to the service sector. The service tax has increased over 100 per cent in the last two years," said Jayraj S Seth, senior manager, KPMG.

The caterers in Gujarat recently formed an association, the All Gujarat Caterers Association. They plan to expand the AGCA to All India Caterers Association (AICA) and urge the government to exempt catering from the service tax bracket.

"We have to pay sales tax of four per cent to the state government, which has been recently reduced from 12 per cent. With the centre including caterers, decorators shamiana and pandal contractors in the service tax bracket, we are again required to pay an additional service tax of over 10 per cent, which has directly affected the prices of our products and services. The customers are approaching us to work without bills to evade taxes," said Kirit Buddhdev, secretary, All Gujarat Catering Association.