CBEC has issued a master circular no. Circular No. 96/7/2007-ST dated the 23rd August, 2007 to clarify various issues.

Now this circular has been amended vide Circular No. 98/1/2008-ST dated 4/1/2008 to clarify more issues.

On of such issue was as under:

Whether or not, excise duty paid on goods, subjected to levy of VAT / sales tax under works contract service, can be taken as credit under the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004?

CBEC clarified the issue as under:

Value for the purposes of levy of service tax under works contract service does not include the value pertaining to transfer of property in goods involved in the execution of a works contract leviable to VAT / sales tax. Works contract service provider is, therefore, not eligible to take credit of excise duty paid on such goods involved in the execution of works contract.

Another issue was as under:

Whether in such cases, the service provider can revise the classification to works contract service from the respective classification and pay service tax for the amount received on or after 01.06.07 under the Composition Scheme?

CBEC clarified the issue as under:

Prior to 01.06.07, service provider classified the taxable service under erection, commissioning or installation service [section 65(105)(zzd)], commercial or industrial construction service [section 65(105)(zzq)] or construction of complex service [section 65(105)(zzzh)], as the case may be, and paid service tax accordingly. The contract for the service was a single composite contract. Part of service tax liability corresponding to payment received was discharged and the balance amount of service tax is required to be paid on or after 01.06.07 depending upon receipt of payment.

Classification of a taxable service is determined based on the nature of service provided whereas liability to pay service tax is related to receipt of consideration. Vivisecting a single composite service and classifying the same under two different taxable services depending upon the time of receipt of the consideration is not legally sustainable.

In view of the above, a service provider who paid service tax prior to 01.06.07 for the taxable service, namely, erection, commissioning or installation service, commercial or industrial construction service or construction of complex service, as the case may be, is not entitled to change the classification of the single composite service for the purpose of payment of service tax on or after 01.06.07 and hence, is not entitled to avail the Composition Scheme.

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.