TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2022 (7) TMI 305
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....sed in the Show Cause Notice dated 22.10.2008 (SCN) for the period from April 2003 to March 2007. 2. The Appellant is engaged in providing 'Customs House Agent' services and is accordingly depositing the applicable service tax. They have also filed periodical returns as required in the Service Tax Rules. The impugned demand of Service Tax has been raised on amount of reimbursement claimed by the Appellant from the clients during the course of providing the aforesaid services by invoking Rule 5 of the Service Tax Rules, 1994. In the course of adjudication, the assessee has submitted that the said expenses cannot form part of the value of taxable services for the purpose of ascertainment of value of taxable services as per various clarific....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....des through video conferencing and perused the appeal records. The Learned Advocate has also filed written submissions. 7. We find that the issue is no longer res integra inasmuch as the very Rule on the basis of which impugned demand has been raised has been held to be ultra vires the provisions of the Finance Act, 1994. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Intercontinental Consultants & Technocrats Pvt Ltd (Supra) has held as under:- "24. In this hue, the expression 'such' occurring in Section 67 of the Act assumes importance. In other words, valuation of taxable services for charging service tax, the authorities are to find what is the gross amount charged for providing 'such' taxable services. As a fortiori, any other am....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... the following manner : "Now if there is any conflict between a statute and the subordinate legislation, it does not require elaborate reasoning to firmly state that the statute prevails over subordinate legislation and the byelaw, if not in conformity with the statute in order to give effect to the statutory provision the Rule or bye-law has to be ignored. The statutory provision has precedence and must be complied with." .................................... ..................................... 29. In the present case, the aforesaid view gets strengthened from the manner in which the Legislature itself acted. Realising that Section 67, dealing with valuation of taxable services, does not include reimbur....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....ment of a court of law. There is a technique required to draft a legislation as well as to understand a legislation. Former technique is known as legislative drafting and latter one is to be found in the various principles of "interpretation of statutes". Vis-a-vis ordinary prose, a legislation differs in its provenance, layout and features as also in the implication as to its meaning that arise by presumptions as to the intent of the maker thereof. 28. Of the various rules guiding how a legislation has to be interpreted, one established rule is that unless a contrary intention appears, a legislation is presumed not to be intended to have a retrospective operation. The idea behind the rule is that a current law should govern curren....