Refund of service tax

[JOSHIL JAIN]

One of my client is exporting goods to various cusomers thru agents. These agents raise invoices after completion of finacial year and these agents are paid in April/May after finacial year. Now please advise whether my client can claim refund of service tax ( which was deposited by him in May/June)on the commission deposited by him on such service tax( Particularly when commission is paid after completion of financial year. If yes then please advise in which quarter he can claim refund?

[Surender Gupta]

For claiming refund you can claim after depositing the same with the govt. treasury.

[hiren kumar Sheth]

More clarification is required whether there is time limit for claim of Refund. As per ST Notification No.41,whether we may claim commission relating to year 2006-07 which has been paid in may 07 to overseas agent?

[Madhukar N Hiregange]

In case of export cliams if the refund is eligible the same maybe immediately for the past period. ( even if limited period wqithin 1 year should not be an issue.) subsequenlty the same maybe done quarterly.

AI Summary

Service tax refund on commissions: taxpayers may claim after deposit, and export-related past-period claims are generally permissible. Refund of service tax on commissions to overseas agents requires deposit of the tax with the government treasury before a refund claim is lodged; post-financial year invoicing or payment does not automatically bar a refund for export-related services. While statutory time limits require clarification, export refund claims for past periods may be pursued and claims within a one-year span are generally acceptable, with subsequent refunds capable of being claimed on a quarterly basis.