Business support service excludes statutory compliance and tax representation; outsourced internal processes alone fall within the taxable scope.

Statutory compliance work, document preparation, and representation before tax authorities were held not to constitute business support service because the taxable entry covers outsourced internal business processes, not compulsory compliance or dispute-related functions arising from law. As the evidence did not show maintenance of clients' books of account or performance of internal business process outsourcing, the services were treated as legal consultancy service. The Revenue failed to displace that finding, and the demand was therefore unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether the respondent's activities, consisting of compliance work, preparation of documents, appearance before tax authorities, and related assistance, were taxable as 'support service of business or commerce' under section 65(105)(k) of the Finance Act, 1994, or were instead in the nature of legal consultancy service.

Analysis: The respondent's work was found to relate to statutory compliance, representation before tax authorities, and preparation and certification of documents required for such proceedings. The evidence did not establish that the respondent maintained clients' books of account or performed the kind of outsourced internal business processes contemplated by section 65(104c) of the Finance Act, 1994. That taxable entry was understood to cover outsourced functions that are ordinarily internal processes of an organisation, such as functional management activities, whereas compliance and dispute-resolution work are compulsory obligations arising from the legal environment in which an entity operates. Such activities are not optional business support functions performed for economic outsourcing convenience.

Conclusion: The activities were not taxable as business support service and were correctly treated as legal consultancy service.

Final Conclusion: The Revenue failed to dislodge the finding that the respondent's services fell outside the ambit of business support service, so the demand was not sustainable.

Ratio Decidendi: Only outsourced activities that constitute internal business processes of an organisation fall within the taxable scope of business support service; statutory compliance and representation before authorities do not.

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