Cisco India's Support Services To Overseas Affiliates Are Export, Not Intermediary: CESTAT Bengaluru

The Bengaluru Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) on 20 July held that marketing support, technical support, manufacturing support, management support and other business support services provided by Cisco Systems (India) Pvt. Ltd. to its overseas group entities qualify as export of services and cannot be treated as intermediary services under the Place of Provision of Services Rules, 2012. A Bench of Judicial Member P.A. Augustian and Technical Member R. Bhagya Devi...

Reimbursement Of Stipend Paid To Apprentices Not Liable To Service Tax: CESTAT Chennai

The Chennai bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) has held that reimbursement of 50% of the stipend paid to apprentices by the Board of Apprenticeship Training (BOAT) is not liable to service tax. It held that the reimbursement is akin to a statutory welfare grant rather than consideration for any taxable service.A bench of Judicial Member Ajayan T.V. and Technical Member Vasa Seshagiri Rao allowed the appeal filed by India Nippon Electricals Ltd. against the...

CESTAT Mumbai Sets Aside Service Tax Demand, Says Show Cause Notice Must Be Served, Not Merely Issued

The Mumbai bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) has set aside an appellate order that had sustained a ₹1.52 lakh service tax demand after finding that the Department failed to establish that the show cause notice had been served on the assessee before adjudication proceedings were initiated.A single-member bench of Judicial Member Ajay Sharma allowed the appeal filed by Anil Lingappa Palle, proprietor of Khushi Enterprises, against an order of the Commissioner...

Supreme Court Holds BPCL, HPCL Liable For ₹16.6 Crore Service Tax For Marketing MGL's CNG

The Supreme Court on Monday held that Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (HPCL) are liable to pay more than ₹16.6 crore in service tax for facilitating the sale of Mahanagar Gas Ltd.'s (MGL) compressed natural gas (CNG). It ruled that the two public sector oil companies rendered Business Auxiliary Service to MGL by promoting and marketing its CNG, instead of purchasing and reselling the fuel. "The agent Corporations provide promotional services...

Restaurants Need Not Reverse CENVAT Credit For Food Supplied As Part Of Service: CESTAT Mumbai

The Mumbai Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) on 15 July held that restaurants providing taxable restaurant services are not required to reverse CENVAT credit under Rule 6(3) of the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004 merely because food or beverages are supplied as part of the service. A Bench comprising Judicial Member Justice (Dr.) S.K. Mohanty and Technical Member M.M. Parthiban allowed the appeal filed by Speciality Restaurants Ltd. and set aside the order...

CESTAT Mumbai Allows YRF Studios' CENVAT Credit On Studio Repair and Renovation Works

The Mumbai Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) has recently allowed YRF Studios to claim CENVAT credit on service tax paid for repair, renovation, and strengthening works carried out on its existing studio buildings. It held that the services were used for maintaining infrastructure from which the company's taxable output services were provided and were not covered by the exclusion applicable to construction services.The appeal was decided by Technical Member...

Service Tax Refund For SEZ Can't Be Denied If Services Were Used For Authorised Operations: CESTAT Chennai

The Chennai bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) has held that a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) unit cannot be denied a refund of service tax merely because the services were not consumed within the geographical limits of the SEZ, so long as they were used for authorised operations. A single-member tribunal of Technical Member Rajeev Tandon allowed an appeal filed by ATC Tires Private Limited. "It is clear from a bare reading of Section 26(1)(e) that the...

Madras High Court Upholds 2014 Notification Granting Pan-India Powers To DGCEI Officers In Service Tax Cases

The Madras High Court has upheld a 2014 notification that authorised officers of the Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (now the Directorate General of GST Intelligence) to investigate service tax cases and issue show cause notices across India, regardless of where the taxpayer was located. The court held that the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) was empowered to confer all-India jurisdiction on Central Excise officers through notifications issued under the Finance...

CESTAT Delhi Allows Pharma Company's ₹70 Lakh Refund, Holds Claim Not Hit By Unjust Enrichment

The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), New Delhi, has allowed a pharma company's appeal and held that its refund claim of about ₹70 lakh was not hit by unjust enrichment, setting aside orders directing the amount to be credited to the Consumer Welfare Fund.The ruling was delivered by a tribunal comprising Judicial Member Binu Tamta and Technical Member P.V. Subba Rao.Vivek Pharmachem India Ltd., which manufactures medicaments, had availed CENVAT credit of about ₹70 lakh...

CESTAT Delhi Upholds CENVAT Credit Reversal On Common Services Used For Own Investments

The Principal Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), New Delhi, has upheld the demand for proportionate reversal of CENVAT credit on common input services used for both taxable services and an assessee's own investment activities. The tribunal held that buying and selling securities on one's own account is neither a taxable service nor an exempted service. It ruled that CENVAT credit attributable to such activities is inadmissible. A bench of Judicial Member...

Meeting Fees To Whole-Time Directors Not Taxable Under Reverse Charge Mechanism: CESTAT New Delhi

The New Delhi Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) on 13 July held that meeting fees paid to whole-time directors are not liable to service tax under the Reverse Charge Mechanism (RCM), as such payments arise from an employer-employee relationship and are excluded from the definition of “service” under the Finance Act, 1994. Judicial Member Binu Tamta and Technical Member P.V. Subba Rao allowed the appeal filed by Oriental Chemical Works and set aside the service tax...

Karnataka High Court Rejects Deccan Mining's Refund Claim, Holds Pay Slips Qualify As Consignment Notes

The Karnataka High Court on 8 July held that transportation services provided by individual truck owners can be treated as Goods Transport Agency (GTA) services if the documents issued for transportation contain the essential features of a consignment note. A Division Bench of Justices S.G. Pandit and Rajesh Rai K dismissed an appeal filed by Deccan Mining Syndicate (P) Ltd., holding that the "pay slips" issued by the transporters fulfilled the requirement of consignment notes under Section...