TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2018 (11) TMI 32
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.... U.K and had availed CENVAT credit of the service tax paid by Lovelock and Lewis and did not follow the procedures/conditions of Rule 6(3)(c) of CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004. All these were noticed by the revenue authorities during the verification of records of the appellant for the period 2004-05 and 2007-08. After calling for explanation, appellants were issued a show cause notice by the lower authorities demanding service tax alongwith interest and also seeking to impose penalties, by invoking extended period. Appellants contested the show cause notice on merits as well as on limitation. Adjudicating authority after following due process of law, confirmed the demands so raised with interest and also imposed penalties. Hence this appeal. 3. Ld. CA appearing on behalf of appellants, after taking us through the records submits the following issues arises in this appeal. (a) Services provided by the appellant to the foreign network firms and other foreign companies and the consideration for such services collected in convertible foreign currency would be qualified to be Export of Services under the Export of Services Rules, 2005. The amount involved is Rs. 42,03,846/- and the pe....
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....iding in India, rendering services only submitting the report to their clients situated outside India, is nothing but performing the services in India, which is held as unacceptable by the Tribunal. It is his submission that all the foreign entities on whose instructions/services in question were provided by the appellant have to be treated as recipient/consumer of services. 3(ii) As regards point No. (b), it is his submission that adjudicating authority has held that services provided by the appellant to Satyam Computer Services Limited as 'auditing and accounting services' and liable to pay service tax under the category of 'Chartered Accountant Services'. It is his submission, on this point, that the services rendered by the appellant are in respect of certification of information to be filed in Form F-3 and providing comfort letter, does not amount to rendition of accounting and auditing service. He would submit the term 'accounting' means systematic recording of transactions and the term 'auditing' means an independent examination of records; hence merely providing certification services and issuance of comfort letter for listing on US Stock Exchange does not amount to rend....
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....t Rules, 2004 and appellant having utilised the entire CENVAT credit, is required to return back the amount. IT is his submission that for the purposes of Rules 6(1), 6(2) and 6(3) of CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004, the inputs and input services which are exclusively used for manufacture of exempted goods or rendering of exempted services shall not be allowed to assessee subject to a condition that if an assessee is able to maintain separate accounts for exempted and dutiable goods or services, he will be eligible to avail CENVAT credit on dutiable goods or services rendered by them. It is his further submission that during the period in question, they did not provide any exempted services at all, all the services provided by them were of taxable nature and availed CENVAT credit of service tax paid on the invoices raised by Lovelock and Lewes which were exclusively used for providing of auditing services and amounts received as consideration for such services rendered to their clients were taxed and same was discharged. It is his submission that extended period cannot be invoked in the case in hand as all the services rendered by them are not taxable is their bonafide contention. It is ....
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....ted (supra) would directly apply in the case in hand wherein in para 10, the bench held as under: "From the above provision it is clear that the said services came under Rule 3(1)(2)(sic) of the Rules. It is very much clear that the performance of the service is not complete until the testing and analysis report is delivered to its client. In the present case, when such reports were delivered to the clients outside India, it amounts to taxable service partly performed outside India. The performance of testing and analysing has no value unless and until it is delivered to its client and the service is to be complete when such report is delivered to its client. Thus, delivery of reports to its client is an essential part of the service report was delivered outside India and same was used outside India. This is not the disputed fact. We hold that the respondent satisfied the conditions of Rule 3(2) and accordingly the respondents are eligible for the exemption under Notification No. 11/2007-ST dated 1.3.2007." 6.2 It is to be mentioned here that in the case of B.A. Research India Limited, the respondent therein was testing the samples of the products manufactured in India and we....
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....llant's contention is that the said service is not so covered under that head and is fully exempted under notification No. 59/98-ST, dated 16.10.1998 as amended. From Notification No. 59/98 (supra), it is seen that except for 11 services covered by the said notification, all other services rendered by a Chartered Accountant are exempt from service tax. The said notification was in force till 28.02.2006 before being rescinded vide notification No. 2/2006-ST, dated 01.03.2006. From the wording of the certificate, it is seen that the appellant had checked the books of accounts and thereafter had issued the required certificate. In our opinion, the word 'accounting' implies pure accounting i.e. maintaining and writing of books of accounts etc. and there is no dispute that the appellant was not maintaining or writing any books of accounts for Satyam Computers Limited as they could not have since they were the statutory auditors of Satyam and statutory auditor cannot undertake to write and maintain books of accounts of its clients. Now, coming to the word "audit" it implies thorough checking of books of accounts, vouchers and legal and other supporting documents with a view to verify the....
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....riod prior to 18.04.2006, the law is now settled by the judgment of Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Indian National Shipowners Association, which upheld the decision of Hon'ble High Court of Bombay in the case of Indian National Shipowners' Association vs. Union of India reported at [2009(13)S.T.R. 235 (Bom.)]. This position is accepted by Board and has issued a clarification stating that the service tax liability under reverse charge mechanism will be applicable from 18.04.2006 only. In view of this, the demands prior to 18.04.2006 under this head are unsustainable and liable to be set aside and we do so. 8.2 As regards the demands raised post 18.04.2006 under this head, we find that the main argument of the appellant is that the appellant is not getting covered under the definition of 'chartered accountant services' for the amounts repatriated by them to PricewaterhouseCoopers USA and U.K. For this proposition, reliance was placed on the definition of 'chartered accountant services' as envisaged under section 65(105)(s). We reproduce the same. "taxable service means any service provided or to be provided to a client, by a practicing chartered accountant in his professiona....
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....second part i.e. inclusive part is emphasizing on independent concern engaged in rendering chartered accountancy services. It can be noted that the second part of the definition does not talk about requirement of the concern being Indian or otherwise. So, in our view, it applies to all concerns whether it is in India or abroad. Further, in our view, if the associated concern is situated abroad and engaged in rendering services in the field of chartered accountancy, will get covered under the definition of 'practicing of chartered accountants' and in our view the demand confirmed by the authorities is sustainable and accordingly appeal to this extent is rejected. 9. On point No. 3(d): The last issue regarding which demand has been confirmed is on the point that appellant having availed CENVAT credit on common input services and having not maintained separate accounts records for such common input services and rendered taxable as well as exempted services, should not have utilised the CENVAT credit in excess of 20% of service tax payable during the period October 2006 to March 2008, we find that the said provisions of Rule 6 of CCR 2004 places various obligations of manufacturer o....
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....0-1998] In exercise of the powers conferred by section 93 of the Finance Act, 1994 (32 of 1994), and in supersession of the notification of Government of India in the Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue) No. 57/98-Service Tax, dated the 7th October, 1998, the Central Government, being satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest so to do, hereby exempts the taxable services provided by a practicing chartered accountant, a practicing company secretary or a practicing cost accountant, in his professional capacity to a client, other than the taxable services relating to - i.) accounting and auditing; or ii.) cost accounting and cost auditing; or iii.) secretarial auditing; or iv.) verification of declarations in prescribed forms of compliance's for obtaining a certificate of commencement of business or commencement of other business under section 149 of the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956); or v.) signing of the annual return of listed companies under section 161 of the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956); or vi.) certification that requirements of Schedule XIII to the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956) have been complied with as regards statutory guid....