TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2016 (9) TMI 1115
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....on the file of the respondent under the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act, 2006, (hereinafter will be referred to as TNVAT Act) has filed this writ petition, challenging the order of assessment dated 12.06.2015 for the assessment year 2014-15. 3. The petitioner's case is that they are selling recharge vouchers for mobile Sim Cards and the same is not taxable. However, the respondent has proposed the tax on the transactions partly due to mistake committed by the dealers. 4. The legal issue on this aspect has been settled in the case of BSNL v. Union of India and Others, reported in (2006) (145) S.T.C. 91, which was considered by the Hon 'ble Supreme Court in the case of Idea Mobile Communication Ltd., v. Commissioner....
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.... it was submitted that they had no sale value. A SIM card merely represented a means of the access and identified the subscribers. This was part of the service of a telephone connection. The Court rejected this submission finding that the SIM card was "goods" within the definition of the word in the State Sales Tax Act. 87. It is not possible for this Court to opine finally on the issue. What a SIM card represents is ultimately a question of fact, as has been correctly submitted by the States. In determining the issue, however the assessing authorities will have to keep in mind the following principles: if the SIM card is not sold by the assessee to the subscribers but is merely part of the services rendered by the service providers, then....
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....as the appellant itself subsequently has been paying service tax for the entire collection as processing charges for activating cellular phone and paying the service tax on the activation. The appellant also accepts the position that activation is a taxable service. The position in law is therefore clear that the amount received by the cellular telephone company from its subscribers towards SIM Card will form part of the taxable value for levy of service tax, for the SIM Cards are never sold as goods independent from services provided. They are considered part and parcel of the services provided and the dominant position of the transaction is to provide services and not to sell the material i.e. SIM Cards which on its own but without the se....
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....e. This request has been rejected by the respondent on the ground that the respondent did not find any reasonable cause for revising the assessment. 7. After hearing the learned counsels for the parties and after perusing the materials placed on record, two issues have to be pointed out in this writ petition. Firstly, the legal aspect cannot be disputed by the respondent as it is covered by the aforestated decisions. The second aspect is that, if some mistake has been committed by the dealer, can he be given an opportunity to rectify the mistake. Undoubtedly, Section 84 of the TNVAT Act, provides for such a remedy and the Assessing Officer is empowered to rectify the mistake. 8. If such is the situation, then the next question would be wh....