Introduced in the Finance (No. 2) Bill, 2009 which was approved in the Lok Sabha on the 6^th July, 2009, Clause 112 of the Finance (No. 2) Bill 2009 covers all the changes relating to Chapter V of Finance Act, 1994.

  Cosmetic & Plastic Surgery Service: Cosmetic & plastic surgery services provided or to be provided by any person to any other person are proposed to be subjected to service tax under section 65(105)(zzzzk).

v  Beauty treatment service provided by saloons, beauty parlors and beauticians are taxable since 2002. The service now proposed to be taxed is cosmetic surgery and plastic surgery undertaken to preserve or enhance physical appearance or beauty. As per common definition, surgery is a medical technology consisting of a physical intervention on tissues. As a general rule, a procedure is considered surgical when it involves cutting of a patient’s tissues or closure of a previously sustained wound. Commonly surgery is performed in a sterile environment with anesthesia and antiseptic conditions using surgical instruments. It also includes ‘non-invasive’ surgery.

v  Some of the commonly known aesthetic/cosmetic surgeries are abdominoplasty (tummy tuck); bletharoplasty (eyelid surgery); mammoplasty; buttock augmentation and lift; rhinoplasty (reshaping of nose); otoplasty (ear surgery); Rhytidectomy (face lift); liposuction (removal of fat from the body); brow lift; cheek augmentation; facial implants; lip augmentation; forehead lift; cosmetic dental surgery; orthodontics; aesthetic dentistry; laser skin surfacing etc.

v  However, any reconstructive surgery undertaken to restore one’s appearance, anatomy or bodily functions affected due to congenital defects, developmental abnormalities, degenerative diseases, injury or trauma would be outside the scope of this service. These processes could be undertaken to correct impairment caused by burns, fractures or congenital abnormalities like cleft lip etc.