Deputation on reimbursement basis is not Business Support Service; classification may instead fall under manpower supply service.

Deputation of employees to subsidiary companies on reimbursement of actual salary and administrative expenses was not Business Support Service under section 65(105)(zzzq) of the Finance Act, 1994. The arrangement was treated as a manpower supply or deputation model, not a service of business or commerce support, because mere recovery of establishment costs did not satisfy the statutory description of Business Support Service. The Board's clarification on deputation of staff, which placed such arrangements within manpower recruitment or supply agency service, was binding on departmental authorities and had to be followed for classification.

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Issues: Whether deputation of employees to subsidiary companies on reimbursement of salary and administrative expenses was classifiable as Business Support Service, or whether it fell outside that taxable category.

Analysis: The activity consisted of sending employees to subsidiary companies on deputation and recovering the actual expenses incurred on their salaries and related costs. Such reimbursement-based sharing of establishment expenses did not answer the description of the inclusive or basic components of Business Support Service under section 65(105)(zzzq) of the Finance Act, 1994. The explanatory framework relied upon by the Department did not fit the facts, because the arrangement was essentially a manpower supply/deputation arrangement rather than support services of business or commerce. The Board's clarification on deputation of staff made it clear that making available personnel to another entity for reimbursement is classifiable, if at all, under manpower recruitment or supply agency service under section 65(105)(k) read with section 65(68) of the Finance Act, 1994, and the departmental authorities were bound by that clarification.

Conclusion: The demand under Business Support Service was not sustainable; the impugned order was set aside and the appeal was allowed.

Ratio Decidendi: Deputation of employees on reimbursement of actual cost is not Business Support Service; if taxable, such an arrangement falls under manpower recruitment or supply agency service, and binding departmental circulars on classification must be followed.

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