A total of 38 services, which are to be listed on a negative list, will be exempt from service tax in the country from July 1.

Services like lawyers serving entities with turnover of up to Rs 10 lakh, libraries, companies engaged in constructing metro projects, law firms and entities providing public conveniences will not have to play 12 per cent service tax from July when the negative list comes into effect.

Besides the 38 services on the negative list, all other type of services will be taxed 12 per cent as per the announcement by the finance ministry during the Union Budget for 2012-2013. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee released 107-page book named, `Taxation of service: An Education Guide' on Wednesday.

He said that due to the expansion of the service tax base, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) will be able to exceed the collection target of Rs. 1.24 lakh crore during the current financial year.

The government had made a collection of Rs. 97,000 crore as service tax during the previous fiscal year. The sergice tax has been increased by two percentage points to 12 per cent from 10 per cent and this is likely to boost service tax collections in the country.