In its continuing endeavour to offer learning and education opportunities to members of the Oil and Gas industry, PetroFed organised a workshop on Service Tax in association with member company and knowledge partner PricewaterhouseCoopers Pvt. Ltd. (PwC) on November 2, 2006 at New Delhi.  The opening session featured an “Overview of Emerging Indirect Tax Regime” by Sh. S. Madhavan, Executive Director, Tax & Regulatory Services and Head Indirect Tax Practice, PwC.

Chairing the opening session Sh. Suresh Mathur, Director (Oil & Gas) Essar Group, explained the importance of the guest lecture and the workshop in the context of the proposed transition in indirect tax regime.  Director General PetroFed, Sh. A.K. Arora in his welcome address earlier, highlighted the importance of managing taxes proactively to boost corporate bottom lines.

Sh. Madhavan  provided an overview of the reforms that have been instrumental in shaping the present indirect tax regime in India and drew a road-map for a unified goods and services tax alongwith expected time-line as proposed by the Finance Minister in his Budget speech.  He spelt out the implications of the changes on the petroleum sector and the challenges involved therein.  Unified GST, according to Sh. Madhavan, could change the competitive landscape in India.

During the workshop thereafter Ms. Anita Rastogi, Manager, Tax & Regulatory Services, PwC, touched upon the recent major developments introduced in the Service Tax legislation impacting the Oil and Gas sector. 

Ms Rohini Aggarwal, Deputy Manager, Tax & Regulatory Services, PwC, in her presentation talked about the valuation rules introduced recently to determine the value of taxable services. 

Mr. R. Muralidharan, Senior Manager, Tax & Regulatory Services, PwC conducted the final session dedicated to the issue relating to import of services. 

A lively question and answer session followed the final presentation and the participants utilized this opportunity to seek clarifications on service tax issues being grappled by them. 

The attendees included participants from private and public sector oil and gas companies and also students from University of Petroleum and Energy Studies. 

PetroFed values the feedback received from the participants which will be helpful for future Learning & Education endeavours of PetroFed.

Click here to view presentations.