Refund for courier services on exports cannot be denied solely for incomplete invoices if linkage evidence is later verified.

Refund of service tax paid on courier services used for exported goods could not be denied merely because the original invoices did not contain every prescribed detail or because the export linkage was produced later. The exported goods and use of courier services were undisputed, and the missing particulars could be supplied separately for verification. Linkage evidence also need not appear in the invoice itself if it can be established later. The rejection on those grounds was therefore incorrect, and the matter was remanded for verification and fresh consideration of the refund claim.

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Issues: Whether the refund claim for service tax paid on courier services used in relation to exported goods could be rejected solely because the courier invoices did not initially contain all prescribed details and the linkage evidence was produced later.

Analysis: The goods exported and the availing of courier services were not in dispute. The only objection was that the original invoices did not contain all the particulars required under Notification No. 3/2008-ST dated 19.02.2008 and that the linkage between the courier services and the export goods was not shown in the invoices themselves. The absence of all particulars in the original invoices was not treated as an absolute bar, because the required details could be furnished separately for verification. Likewise, linkage evidence need not necessarily be contained in the invoice itself and may be produced later for verification. The refund claim could therefore not be rejected on this ground alone.

Conclusion: The rejection of the refund claim on the stated grounds was held to be incorrect, and the matter was remanded for verification of the details and fresh consideration of the refund claim.

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