TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2006 (7) TMI 22
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....deration for technical service rendered to M/s. Krishna Tax port Industries Ltd. When this receipt came to its notice, Revenue issued a show cause notice alleging that the service rendered attracted Service Tax as 'Engineering Consultancy Services'. Accordingly, a Tax demand of about Rs. 4 lakhs was raised. 3. The assessee resisted the demand and contended that Service Tax as "Engineering Consultancy" was attracted when service was rendered by a "Professionally qualified Engineer or Engineering Firm". The contention was that the assessee is not an Engineering Firm and, therefore, did not come within the definition of Consulting Engineer under the statute. It may be noted here that at the relevant time the definition of Consultanc....
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....t prior to it, the levy was confined to engineering firms and did not extend to non-engineering firms, even if engineering consultancy was provided by such a firm. The learned Counsel for the appellant has also relied on the judgment of the Hon'ble Calcutta High Court in the case of M.N. Dastur & Company Ltd. Vs. Union of India, reported in 2006 (2) S.T.R. 532 Rs. 1(Cal.) in support of the contention that unless the Engineering Consultancy Service provider is an engineering Organization, be it a firm or a company, the tax liability will not arise. 7. The contention of the learned SDR is that the appellant satisfies the requirement of being an engineering firm inasmuch as it employed engineers and rendered engineering consultancy. He ....
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....truction of storage facility. Similarly, a bank may employ engineers in connection in connection with project evaluation. Evidently, employment of a few engineers cannot convert a trading firm or a bank to an engineering firm. If the intention was, from the beginning, to impose service tax on any engineering consultancy service, irrespective of the provider, broader terminology would have been used in the definition clause. 9. When the issue as to whether an engineering company will also come within the scope of an 'engineering firm' came up before the Hon'ble High Court of Calcutta, the Court ruled out as under: "After considering the facts and circumstances of this case I do not have any hesitation to accept the co....
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.... "consulting engineer" within the meaning of Section 65 (72) (g) of the Finance Act cannot have any separate footing than that of the definition given in the said section. Therefore, in my opinion, the petitioners are well within the said definition and therefore, there cannot be any exemption whatsoever in respect of the petitioner No. 1. In my opinion, the question is to see the rendering of the service in what capacity-if it is consulting engineer in my opinion certainly they will attract the said definition whether it is an individual, or a firm or a company and furthermore, w here the knowledge of such service based upon knowledge in engineering then automatically they must come within the purview of the said section and it cannot be s....