Levy separation: service tax and VAT treated as mutually exclusive, taxes applied to distinct contract elements.
Payments of service tax and value added tax are mutually exclusive and must be applied according to their respective parameters. In composite contracts containing both goods and services, tax liability should be attributed to the nature of each separable element rather than taxing the entire contract under sales tax. Goods, whether tangible or incorporeal, must be deliverable to attract sales tax, and earlier precedent taking a contrary approach is disapproved.

Reimbursable expenses exempt from service tax when contract expressly provides reimbursement; tribunal permitted deduction of such expenses.
Service Tax is not payable on reimbursable expenses where the contract expressly segregates commission from reimbursable costs; specific items (accountant salary, godown keeper, steno, office maintenance, computer programmer salary, computer installation) identified as reimbursable were allowed as deductions and excluded from the taxable value.

Consignment note requirement: failure to issue bills does not excuse non compliance and triggers statutory obligations for transport services.
The tribunal held that compliance with mandatory statutory formats cannot be avoided on grounds of administrative difficulty or illiteracy; transporters are obliged to issue a consignment note, bills or challans as required by service tax rules, and failure to do so constitutes non-compliance, placing responsibility on taxpayers to engage transporters who observe the statutory regime.

Cenvat credit exclusion for goods in works contracts affirmed; excise duty on transferred goods not creditable under CENVAT rules.
Cenvat credit is not available for excise duty on goods transferred in execution of works contracts because valuation for works contract service excludes value attributable to such transfer; providers cannot claim Cenvat credit for that excise duty. A composite construction-related service must be classified by its nature and cannot be reclassified based on receipt timing to avail the Composition Scheme, so prior payers under other construction-related services are ineligible to switch classification solely for scheme access.

Cenvat credit denial for construction inputs: credit unavailable where immovable property is not treated as service or goods.
The right to use immovable property is leviable under renting of immovable property service, and construction or works contract services are inputs for the immovable property; however, because immovable property is neither a taxable service nor goods subject to excise, input Cenvat credit for those construction-related services cannot be availed under the CENVAT Credit Rules.

Furnishing of records requirement mandates list submission and authorises commissioner authorised officers to access premises for revenue scrutiny.
Assessees must furnish a list of records pertaining to service tax, Cenvat credit, manufacturing/sales and financial records in duplicate to the Superintendent once; Rule 5A authorises officers authorised by the Commissioner, deputed audit parties, or the Comptroller and Auditor General to access premises for scrutiny and revenue audit, and requires production of all records, the trial balance or equivalent, and the Tax Audit Report under section 44AB.

Trade balance widened as exports and imports rose, with non-oil imports outpacing oil imports in growth.
Merchandise exports rose significantly in dollar terms and moderately in rupee terms for November and April-November, 2007, while imports-driven by faster growth in non oil imports than oil imports-also increased markedly; provisional 2007-08 data show the cumulative trade deficit widened compared with the latest revised 2006-07 figures.