TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2023 (3) TMI 640
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....ng company and providing services under the category of 'Banking and Financial Services'. It was alleged that during the period April 2005 to March 2008, the Respondents have irregularly availed CENVAT Credit by willful contravention of Rule 4A(2) of Service Tax Rules, 1994, Rule 9(1) of CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004 as well as Rule 3 of Service Tax (Registration of Special Category of Persons) Rules, 2005. The Respondent was having Central Excise Registration of various offices of the Respondent. After going through the reply to the Show Cause Notice the Ld.Adjudicating authoirty dropped the Show Cause Notice against the Respondent. Aggrieved from the said order, Revenue is before us. 3. Heard the Ld.Authorized Representative for the Revenue....
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....ead office, regional office. Such head office/regional office can be registered with Central Excise as 'Input Service Distributor. Now as per Rule 2(m) of CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004 "Input Service Distributor' mean . (a) an office managing the business of manufacture & producer of final products or provider of output service, (b) While receives invoices issued under rule 4A of the Service Tax Rules, 1994 towards purchases of input services and (c) issues involves bill or, as the case may be challan for the purposes of distributing the credit of Service-Tax paid on the said services to such manufacturer or producer or provider, as the case may be. An office of assessee (manufacturer or service provider) is "input Service Distributor" if i....
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....x is paid after utilizing the CENVAT Credit. I also observe, that vide letter C.No.V(5)Misc/R/2/G-1/D- 1/ST/Audit/2009/2074 dated 31.07.2009 issued to the Dy.Director (RA- 1DT) Centre, Kolkata, Central Excise Revenue Audit, by the Superintendent, Range-III, Service-Tax Division-I, Kolkata, the latter inter alia stated that the assessee have obtained centralized registration of H.O for payent of Service Tax as per the provision of Rule 4(2) of the Service Tax Rules, 1994 even though the services are provided by the various branches of the bank. In the said letter he stated that he held discussions with the officials of the concerned bank, and it came to light, that various input services are procured and utilized by various branch offices,....
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....king and therefore there cannot be any malafide intention to evade duty. Moreover, they are registered with the Service Tax department and are paying service-tax on the various services provided by them. They have always paid the taxes as and when applicable on time and all the returns have been filed on time. All their activities are known to the department and also the DSCN has no where mentioned tha the assessee has ever defualted in the past or are regular defaulter in respect of payment of Service Tax on the services provided by them. Also the Superintendent, Service-Tax, having jurisdiction over the assessee, have categorically stated in his said letter (Supra) that since credit is availed by the branches and Regional Offices based ....