https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=796922 Copyrighted software licences permitting pre-installation and sublicensing before 16.05.2008 fall outside Intellectual Property Right Service where copyright is excluded and no separate intellectual property right recognised under Indian law is identified. The later introduction of a specific levy for commercial exploitation of information technology software supports non-taxability under the earlier entry. Extended limitation requires suppression with intent to evade; prior departmental disclosure and a bona fide taxability dispute do not satisfy that standard. Revenue neutrality, where reverse-charge tax would be available as Cenvat credit for dutiable manufacture, further negates intent to evade. The service-tax demand, interest and penalties therefore do not survive. en-us Wed, 12 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0530 Thu, 13 Aug 2026 08:30:34 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=796922 Copyrighted software licences permitting pre-installation and sublicensing before 16.05.2008 fall outside Intellectual Property Right Service where copyright is excluded and no separate intellectual property right recognised under Indian law is identified. The later introduction of a specific levy for commercial exploitation of information technology software supports non-taxability under the earlier entry. Extended limitation requires suppression with intent to evade; prior departmental disclosure and a bona fide taxability dispute do not satisfy that standard. Revenue neutrality, where reverse-charge tax would be available as Cenvat credit for dutiable manufacture, further negates intent to evade. The service-tax demand, interest and penalties therefore do not survive. Case-Laws Service Tax Wed, 12 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=796922