Refund claims under service tax exemption notifications fail without contemporaneous proof of service tax payment and eligible service receipt.

Refund claims under the service tax exemption notifications could not be allowed where the assessee failed to produce invoices, bank statements or other contemporaneous records proving payment of service tax on the specified services. Although defects in the form of the refund applications were treated as rectifiable and the claims were not rejected merely as time-barred on that ground, the notifications still required minimum documentary evidence to establish receipt of eligible services and tax payment. Summary tables alone were insufficient. The rejection of refund was therefore upheld for non-compliance with the evidentiary requirements.

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Issues: Whether refund claims under the service tax exemption notifications were admissible when the claims were said to be filed in time but the assessee failed to produce the prescribed documentary evidence of service tax payment on the specified services.

Analysis: The Tribunal accepted that any defects in the form of the refund claims could be treated as rectifiable and, on that aspect, the filing could not be rejected merely as time-barred. However, the adjudicating authority and the appellate authority had recorded that the assessee did not produce invoices or other contemporaneous records showing payment of service tax on the services for which refund was claimed. The tables filed by the assessee contained only summary particulars and were not corroborated by invoices or bank statements capable of establishing that the claimed services were actually received and that service tax had been paid on eligible services as required by the notifications.

Conclusion: The refund claims were not allowable for want of the minimum documentary evidence required under the notifications, and the rejection of refund was upheld.

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