Cenvat credit availability for unregistered dealer

[Guest]

We are providing business auxiliary service and we have been forced to pay service tax since 10-09-2004 while we got registered with service tax department only in current financial year i.e. 2006-07. Now what kind of returns do we need to file. Can we claim Input & Cenvat for prior period also for which we have no registration but law was applicable to us for payment of service tax. Also because of this we have to raise supplementary bills to our customers for payment of service and current bills are being issued along with service. Few customers have paid current service tax but are denying to pay previous dues. In this case what is our liability. Some of the customers are not paying anything (neither the previous dues of service nor the exactly service tax portion of current bills), in this case what is our liability.

AI Summary

Service provider can claim Cenvat credit before registration but cannot recover past service tax from unwilling customers. An individual providing business auxiliary services was required to pay service tax from September 2004 but only registered in the 2006-07 financial year. They inquired about filing returns and claiming Cenvat credit for the period before registration. They also faced issues with customers refusing to pay past service tax dues. A respondent clarified that the individual could claim Cenvat credit for inputs, capital goods, and input services used for taxable services. However, they cannot legally collect past service tax from customers unwilling to pay, and must bear the cost themselves if customers refuse to cover the tax.