TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2021 (3) TMI 480
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....e services. For the purposes of clearing the excisable goods from the factory of the appellants, services of goods transport operators were availed. The appellants were discharging service tax under Reverse Charge Mechanism (RCM) on the freight amount reimbursed to goods transport operators. The appellants were availing cenvat credit of service tax paid to the Government since the services of goods transport operators were in the nature of input services. Show-cause notices dated 10.07.2008 & 04.12.2008 were issued for the period from May, 2005 to March, 2006 & April, 2006 to March, 2007, alleging that since the appellant had cleared its finished goods directly from factory to their buyers, they are not eligible to avail service tax paid on....
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....nder : "(l) "input service" means any service, - (i) used by a provider of taxable service for providing an output service; or (ii) used by the manufacturer, whether directly or indirectly, in or in relation to the manufacture of final products and clearance of final products from the place of removal, and includes services used in relation to setting up, modernization, renovation or repairs of a factory, premises of provider of output service or an office relating to such factory or premises, advertisement or sales, promotion, market research, storage upto the place of removal, procurement of inputs, activities relating to business, such as accounting, auditing, financing, recruitment and quality control....
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.... 5. Coming back to the first part of the definition as to what input service means, the Full Bench of the CESTAT held that all input services which are used by the manufacturer, whether directly or indirectly, in or in relation to manufacture of final products and clearance of final products from the place of removal are concerned, they are treated as input services and Cenvat credit in respect of expenditure incurred in relation to such services would be admissible. The expression with which the CESTAT was concerned, and which was the subject matter of discussion, was as to what would be the meaning of "from the place of removal". Obviously, any input service given for clearance of the final products "from the place of removal" and....
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....nsive. The exhaustive portion of the definition of 'input service' deals with service used by the manufacturer, whether directly or indirectly, in or in relation to the manufacture of final products. It also includes clearance of final products from the place of removal. Therefore, services received or rendered by the manufacturer from the place of removal till it 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 produ....
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....ing with inward transportation, they have specifically used the words 'inputs' or 'capital goods'. But, while dealing with outward transportation those two words are conspicuously missing. The reason being, after inward transportation of inputs or capital goods into the factory premises, if a final product emerges, that final product has to be transported from the 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 transportatio....