Passenger service fee and airport taxes excluded from air passenger transport value, avoiding double taxation and fresh appellate objections.

Passenger service fee and airport taxes collected with air tickets were treated as amounts outside the taxable value of air passenger transport service. The Tribunal noted that earlier decisions had already held these charges not to form part of the assessable value, and that passenger service fee is a levy connected with airport services rather than consideration for the airline's taxable service. It also observed that including the same amounts in the airline's value would amount to double taxation. Additional objections raised by the Revenue could not be introduced for the first time at the appellate stage. The impugned order was therefore unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether passenger service fee and airport taxes collected with air tickets were includible in the taxable value of air passenger transport service.

Analysis: The appeal concerned valuation of the taxable service under air passenger transport. The disputed amounts were collected as passenger service fee and airport taxes and were asserted to be statutory levies or amounts remitted to airport and foreign authorities. The Tribunal noted that these charges had already been held in earlier decisions not to form part of the assessable value for the same category of service. It further noted that passenger service fee is a levy connected with airport services and that taxing the same amount again in the hands of the airline would lead to double taxation. The Revenue's additional objections were not part of the original proceedings and could not be freshly introduced at the appellate stage.

Conclusion: Passenger service fee and airport taxes were not includible in the taxable value of the airline service, and the impugned order was unsustainable.

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