payment under protest

[Vigneshwari M]

Hi,

Can we avail cenvat credit of service tax paid under protest ?

Is there any restrictions for doing the same?

[Rajagopalan Ranganathan]

Madam,

If the output service provider charges service tax on the value of service provided and you have honoured the invoice then you can avail the input service tax credit. It does not matter whether the service tax is paid under protest or without protest.

AI Summary

Cenvat credit: input service tax credit available despite payment under protest if invoice is honoured.
If the output service provider charges service tax on the invoice and the recipient honours that invoice, the recipient may avail the input service tax credit irrespective of having paid the tax under protest; the protest status does not, by itself, preclude claiming cenvat credit provided the statutory conditions for claiming credit are met.