Taxable value excludes turnover and V-SAT charges remitted to commodity exchanges under service tax law.

Turnover charges and V-SAT charges collected by a service provider and remitted to commodity exchanges were treated as outside the taxable value for service tax purposes. The analysis followed earlier Tribunal rulings that such statutory charges are not commission or brokerage and therefore are not includible in the value of taxable services. Support was also taken from the departmental circular relied on in those rulings and from the fact that similar demands had been dropped and accepted in other matters. The demand was set aside in favour of the assessee.

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Issues: Whether turnover charges and V-SAT charges collected by the service provider and remitted to the concerned commodity exchanges form part of the value of taxable services for service tax purposes.

Analysis: The issue was treated as covered by earlier Tribunal decisions holding that turnover charges and similar statutory charges are not commission or brokerage and are not includible in the taxable value. The reasoning also took support from the departmental circular noted in those decisions, and from the fact that similar demands had been dropped in other cases and accepted by the department.

Conclusion: The turnover charges and V-SAT charges were held not includible in the taxable value, and the demand was set aside in favour of the assessee.

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