Limitation for refund of unutilised Cenvat credit runs from the date of export of service, not invoice or realisation date.

For refund of unutilised Cenvat credit under Rule 5 of the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004 read with Notification No. 5/2006-CE(NT), the one-year limitation under section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944 applies through section 83 of the Finance Act to service tax matters. The operative question is the relevant date for exported services, and the text treats the date of export of service as that date for computing limitation. Alternative reference points, including the invoice date and the date of receipt of foreign exchange, are noted only for uniformity of approach.

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Issues: Whether, for refund of unutilized Cenvat credit under Rule 5 of the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004 read with Notification No. 5/2006-CE(NT) dated 14.3.2006, the period of one year under section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944 is to be computed from the date of export of service, the date of invoice, the date of receipt of foreign exchange, or the date on which both export and realization are completed.

Analysis: Clause 6 of the Appendix to Notification No. 5/2006-CE(NT) requires the refund application to be filed before the expiry of the period specified in section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944. By virtue of section 83 of the Finance Act, the provisions of section 11B apply to service tax matters in the same manner as they apply to duty of excise. The limiting period therefore turns on the determination of the relevant date for exported services. On that basis, the date of export of service was treated as the relevant date, with the alternative views based on invoice date and receipt of foreign exchange noticed for the purpose of uniformity.

Conclusion: The relevant date for limitation was held to be the date of export of service.

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