In a breather to telecom and mining companies, the finance ministry has clarified that the service tax proposed on auctioning of natural resources, including telecom spectrum, will be imposed prospectively for transfer of rights by the government taking place after April 1. Besides, in what could benefit the cash flow of mining companies and telecom service providers (TSPs), the government has also allowed availing of input tax credit on service tax paid in three years, as against the earlier proposal of spreading it over the period for which rights are issued — 20 years in the case of spectrum. “By these measures, the government has ensured that there is no new tax liability on the TSPs in respect of the services provided in the past,” the ministry said on Thursday. The effective service tax rate is 15 per cent, including 0.5 per cent each of the Swachh Bharat cess and Krishi Kalyan cess. The clarification comes a year after minister Arun Jaitley had proposed a levy on “all ser