Refund of service tax for export-related services cannot be denied merely for lack of a separate correlation report.

Refund of service tax on export-related services was admissible under Notification No. 41/2007-Service Tax where the taxable services, including goods transport agency, CHA, banking and other financial services, satisfied the notification conditions and were used for export purposes. The denial could not rest solely on the absence of a separate correlation report between the services and the exported goods, particularly when payment of service tax and use of the services were admitted and not in dispute. On that basis, the rejection order was unsustainable and the refund claim was allowed.

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Issues: Whether refund of service tax paid on export-related services was admissible under Notification No. 41/2007-Service Tax despite the absence of direct correlation between the services and the exported goods.

Analysis: The refund claim related to services such as goods transport agency, CHA and banking and other financial services. The denial was based only on the asserted lack of correlation between the services and the export goods. The relevant notification, read with the Board circular dated 19.01.2010, required examination of whether service tax had been paid, whether the services had been used, and whether the services fell within the notification. Those factual requirements were admitted and were not in dispute. In that situation, the absence of the stated correlation could not sustain rejection of the refund claim.

Conclusion: The refund was admissible and the rejection order was unsustainable.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the conditions of the refund notification are satisfied and the taxable services are used for export-related purposes, refund cannot be denied merely for want of a separate correlation report between the services and the exported goods.

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