https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=470157 Service tax paid on exempt construction services under a mistake of law is treated as a revenue deposit rather than legally leviable tax. Refund of such deposits is therefore outside the framework of Sections 11B and 11BB of the Central Excise Act, 1944, and carries compensatory interest at 12% per annum. Where the service recipient deducted tax from the contractor's running bills and deposited it under the reverse charge mechanism, that admitted payment establishes the relevant incidence; separate certificates from the service recipient are unnecessary. The stated analysis supports full refund of amounts paid directly and through reverse charge. en-us Tue, 11 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0530 Fri, 17 Jul 2026 21:38:31 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=470157 Service tax paid on exempt construction services under a mistake of law is treated as a revenue deposit rather than legally leviable tax. Refund of such deposits is therefore outside the framework of Sections 11B and 11BB of the Central Excise Act, 1944, and carries compensatory interest at 12% per annum. Where the service recipient deducted tax from the contractor's running bills and deposited it under the reverse charge mechanism, that admitted payment establishes the relevant incidence; separate certificates from the service recipient are unnecessary. The stated analysis supports full refund of amounts paid directly and through reverse charge. Case-Laws Service Tax Tue, 11 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=470157