TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2000 (8) TMI 316
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....them in cylinders belonging to the appellants or cylinders taken on hire by the appellants from others. The dispute is with regard to the appellants' claim for deduction of "cylinder maintenance charges" and "fixed rental charges" of cylinders while fixing the assessable value of gases. The period involved is March, 1994 to March, 1997. 2. Gases were liable to central excise duty at specific rates up to 1-3-1994. Therefore, till 1-3-1994, the value of cylinders used for packing and the cost of maintenance of cylinders were not relevant to the collection of central excise duty on the gases. During this period, appellants were charging the same price for gas from their buyers irrespective of whether gas was delivered in cylinders supp....
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....settled law that cylinder maintenance charges and cylinder rental charges are eligible for deduction and that it is also settled law that no duty is demandable on the differential amount between the actual expenses on these heads and the amount actually collected, the additional amount, if any, being earned from an ancillary activity and not relatable to manufacture of the gases. They have relied upon the decision of the Supreme Court in Collector of Central Excise v. Indian Oxygen Ltd. [1988 (36) E.L.T. 730 (S.C.)] and final order of the Tribunal Nos. 348-355/2000-A, dated 6-6-2000 [2000 (119) E.L.T. 565 (Tribunal)] in the case of M/s. Gomti Carbon Dioxide, Kanpur & Others. With regard to time-bar, they have submitted that the deductions c....
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....r rental charges of cylinders. He also submitted that the appellants' submission that profits from amounts collected towards cylinder maintenance and cylinder rental are profits from incidental or ancillary activities has no factual basis, firstly because there was no occasion or justification to make such collections from buyers who collected the gases in their own cylinders. Secondly, such collections from others were also not towards such services. This is clear from the data itself. For the year 1994-1995, the appellants collected over Rs. 13 lakhs towards cylinder maintenance charges while the expenditure was only Rs. 86,000/-. In 1995-1996, the appellants collected over Rs. 10 lakhs in the name of cylinder maintenance while the expend....
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....n cylinders. In those cases, there was no occasion to collect any charge towards cylinder maintenance or cylinder rental. The appellants still made the collections from them. It is also relevant that the appellants' collections under these headings had no relation whatsoever to the costs involved. The data shows that collections were made even from buyers who did not avail of the service and also that collections bore no ratio or relation to the costs involved in those services. 8.  It is settled law that if ex-factory wholesale price is available, that should be the assessable value. In the present case, the goods were being sold at ex-factory basis. Therefore, that value should have been adopted as the assessable value for all cle....