“Consulting engineer” means any professionally qualified engineer or any body corporate or any other firm who, either directly or indirectly, renders any advice, consultancy or technical assistance in any manner to any person in one or more disciplines of engineering.

Date from which this services made taxable – 7^th July 1997

Service Provider – A Consulting engineer

Service Receiver– Client

Scope of Taxable Service –

Any service provided or to be provided to a client, by a consulting engineer in relation to advice, consultancy or technical assistance in any manner in one or more disciplines of engineering including the discipline of computer hardware engineering.

Advice/consultancy/technical assistance in computer hardware engineering and software engineering included –

It has been clarified that services provided by a consulting engineer in relation to advice, consultancy or technical assistance in the disciplines of both computer hardware engineering and computer software engineering shall also be classifiable under consulting engineer’s services .

Exemptions

        i.            Exemption to cess paid on transfer of technology under the Research and Development Cess, Act, 1986. – The taxable services provided by a consulting engineer to any person on transfer of technology is exempt from so much of the service tax leviable thereon as is equivalent to the amount of cess paid on the said transfer of technology under the provisions of section 3 of the Research and Development Cess Act, 1986.

Query: Whether a self-employed professionally qualified engineer can be considered as ‘Consulting Engineer’ and service provided by such self-employed professionally qualified engineer to a client in relation to one or more discipline of engineering is liable to service tax under consulting engineer services ?

Ans: Consulting engineers include self-employed professionally qualified engineer, whether or not employing others for assistance. Services provided by such self-employed professionally qualified engineer to a client in relation to one or more discipline of engineering is liable to service tax under consulting engineer services .