Exemption for short-term accommodation upheld where books showed tariff below threshold and website data lacked evidentiary value.

Service tax, interest and penalty on short-term accommodation service were found unsustainable where the assessee claimed exemption under Notification No. 31/2011 on the basis that the tariff was below Rs. 1,000 per room per day. The exemption claim was supported by ledgers and vouchers, and the adverse finding rested only on website information. As the maintained books of account were not rejected and no credible evidence was produced to displace them, the recorded material prevailed. The demand was therefore set aside and the exemption claim was accepted.

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Issues: Whether the demand of service tax, interest and penalty on short-term accommodation service was sustainable when the appellant claimed exemption under Notification No. 31/2011 dated 25th April, 2011 on the basis of tariff below Rs. 1,000 per room per day.

Analysis: The exemption claim rested on the tariff position reflected in the appellant's ledgers and vouchers. The adverse finding had been based on website information, but the recorded material did not show rejection of the maintained books of account or any credible evidentiary basis for discarding them. In the absence of reliable evidence to displace the appellant's records, the finding sustaining the demand could not stand.

Conclusion: The demand of service tax, interest and penalty was set aside and the exemption claim was accepted.

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