Service tax on imported intellectual property services was held not payable for the relevant pre-2006 period under binding precedent.

Service tax on intellectual property service received from outside India for the pre-1-1-2005 period was held not payable, because the issue was treated as covered by binding precedent of the Bombay High Court and the Tribunal's Larger Bench, which had ruled that liability could not be sustained for the relevant period prior to 18-4-2006. On that basis, the Revenue's appeal was rejected and the dispute was disposed of in line with the existing authorities.

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Issues: Whether service tax was payable on intellectual property service received from outside India for the period prior to 1-1-2005 and whether the Revenue's appeal was liable to be rejected in view of binding precedent.

Analysis: The dispute was held to be squarely covered by the decisions of the Bombay High Court and the Larger Bench of the Tribunal, which had concluded that service tax liability could not be upheld for the relevant period prior to 18-4-2006. In view of those decisions, the appeal was taken up for final disposal.

Conclusion: Service tax was not payable for the period in question, and the Revenue's appeal was rejected.

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