Refund under export notifications cannot reopen accepted service tax classification at the recipient stage.

Classification accepted for payment of service tax on technical testing and analysis services could not be reopened at the recipient stage while examining refund under export refund notifications. The refund claim related to service tax paid on services used in export of goods, and the Revenue's objection was not directed to reassessment of the provider's classification at levy stage. Since the tax had already been collected under that category without objection, the Tribunal held that the refund could not be denied to the recipient on the basis that the services were said not to fall within technical testing and analysis services. The denial of refund was rightly rejected.

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Issues: Whether the classification adopted by the service provider for payment of service tax could be reopened at the service recipient's end while considering refund under the export refund notifications.

Analysis: The refund claim arose from service tax paid on services used in export of goods and claimed under the relevant service tax refund notifications. The dispute raised by the Revenue was not directed to any reopening of the classification at the service provider's end, and the tax had already been collected under the category of technical testing and analysis services without objection at the time of levy. The authorities below held that once the classification had been accepted for payment of service tax, the same could not be questioned at the stage of refund in the hands of the recipient. The Tribunal agreed with that approach and found no reason to interfere.

Conclusion: The objection to refund on the ground that the services did not fall within technical testing and analysis services was not sustainable at the recipient stage, and the denial of refund was rightly rejected.

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