“services” means anything other than goods, money and securities but includes activities relating to the use of money or its conversion by cash or by any other mode, from one form, currency or denomination, to another form, currency or denomination for which a separate consideration is charged
Express exclusion of goods implies its inclusion within the definition of services. Therefore, understanding the exact scope and boundaries of the definition of goods is required to recognize all those transactions or activities that would fall under the meaning of ‘services’, on being left out of the definition of ‘goods’. Transactions in money (other than its conversion) are excluded both from the definition of goods and from the definition of services. ‘Anything’ includes everything and leaves nothing – services includes goods and for this reason ‘other than goods’ appears in the definition. But for such exclusion it would have been included. And services includes immovable property as well. Transactions involving immovable property to the extent excluded by paragraph 5, schedule III only. All other transactions involvi ng immovable property comes squarely within the scope of services.
Services is therefore not a verb but a noun. As such, there is no need to search for the activity performed in a transaction involving services but sufficient to note that it is not goods t hen it will be services. If this manner of drafting the definition that allows tax to be imposed on transactions of tolerating an act or abstaining from an act as found in paragraph 5(e), schedule II.
The following aspects need to be noted:
The word “anything” could be read as “everything”, i.e., services means everything that is not goods, and is not specifically excluded (such as money, securities, transactions specified in Schedule III, etc.)
Schedule II of the CGST Act lists down matters which shall be regarded as a supply of goods, or supply of services.
The GST law empowers the Government to require treatment of supply of notified goods as supply of services, and vice versa.