TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2019 (4) TMI 1539
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.... steel plant at Jamshedpur in the State of Jharkhand. The final products, i.e., iron and steel goods manufactured in the said factory, are either sold by the appellant to its customers at factory gate and/or through its depots / consignment agents spread all over India. The transportation of the goods sold are normally done by the buyers themselves. However, in case of certain customers, the goods are sold by the appellant on F.O.R. destination basis, which includes reimbursement of freight on actual basis. The freight charges in these cases are paid by the appellant to the transporter. Accordingly, service tax payable on the taxable Goods Transport Agency Services under the Finance Act, 1994, as amended (hereinafter referred to as "the Act....
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....d/or depots / consignment against' places of the appellant to the customers' premises as 'input services' within the meaning of the Cenvat Credit Rules and had thereby allegedly violated the provisions of Rule 2(I)(ii) of the Cenvat Credit Rules. According to the show cause notice, as per Rule 2(I)(ii) of the Cenvat Credit Rules, 'input service' in respect of outward transportation was restricted only upto the place of removal and the expression "clearances of the final product from the place of removal" meant that the credit of the Services used in clearances of the final product was restricted only upto the place of removal and not beyond the place of removal and, hence, the services availed beyond the stage of manufacturing and clearance....
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....t reaches its destination falls within the definition of input service. What are the services that normally a manufacturer would render to a customer from the place of removal? They may be packing, loading, unloading, transportation, delivery, etc. Though the word transportation is not specifically used in the said section in the context in which the phrase 'clearance of final products from the place of removal' is used, it includes the transportation charges. Because, after the final products has reached the place of removal, to clear the final products nothing more needs to be done, except transporting the said final products to the ultimate destination i.e. the customer's/buyer of the said product, apart from attending to certain ancilla....
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....e factory premises till the godown before it is removed for being delivered to the customer. Therefore, 'input service' includes not only the inward transportation of inputs or capital goods but also includes outward transportation of the final product upto the place of removal. Therefore, in the later portion of the definition, an outer limit is prescribed for outward transportation, i.e., up to the place of removal. 7. As mentioned above, the expression used in the aforesaid Rule is "from the place of removal". It has to be from the place of removal upto a certain point. Therefore, tax paid on the transportation of the final product from the place of removal upto the first point, whether it is depot or the customer, has to be allowed. ....