Tribunal overturns denial of cenvat credit, cites Rule 9 compliance

The tribunal allowed the appeal in favor of the appellant, ruling that the denial of cenvat credit by the service tax department was incorrect. The appellant's registration was in effect before the ISD invoices were issued, meeting the requirements of Rule 9 of the Cenvat Credit Rules. The tribunal distinguished previous decisions cited by the respondent, ultimately setting aside the order denying cenvat credit.

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Issues: Denial of cenvat credit to appellant due to input services received by head office prior to registration certificate issuance.

In this case, the appellant, engaged in manufacturing paints, availed cenvat credit of service tax paid by the head office on input services. The service tax department denied the credit, stating the input services were received before obtaining the registration certificate. The appellant argued that since the ISD invoices were issued after registration, credit should not be denied as per the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004. The appellant also highlighted that the credit distribution was duly reflected in returns filed with the Central Excise Authorities in Delhi. On the other hand, the respondent contended that credit distribution was not in line with the cenvat statute as services were received before registration. The respondent cited previous tribunal decisions to support their stance. After considering the arguments, the tribunal found that the appellant's registration was in place before ISD invoices were issued, allowing for cenvat credit as per Rule 9 of the Cenvat Credit Rules. The tribunal distinguished the cited cases as not applicable to the current scenario. Consequently, the impugned order denying cenvat credit was set aside, and the appeal was allowed in favor of the appellant.

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