TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2023 (8) TMI 659
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....t being a part of the Alliance Tire Group (ATG), is a leading manufacturer of global off-highway tyres. The Corporate Office of the appellant is in Mumbai and the appellant also has two manufacturing units in India: one is an Export Oriented Undertaking (EOU) located at Dahej, Gujarat and the other one is a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) unit located at SIPCOT SEZ, Tirunelveli. The present dispute pertains to the appellant's SEZ unit. 2.2 The SEZ unit i.e., the appellant, had obtained a Letter of Approval dated 03.07.2019 issued by the Central Government under Section 3 of the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 (hereinafter referred to as the 'SEZ Act'), as per which the approval so granted was for carrying out authorized operations of manufacturing pneumatic tyres of rubber, tyre flaps and inner tubes of rubber. 2.3 It appears that there was an audit of the appellant's books of account by the Audit Team of the Service Tax Department during July 2018 and November 2018, during which various issues were pointed out and it is a matter of record that the appellant did file its reply to each of such issues pointed out during the course of audit. 3. It appears that not satisfied with....
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....tion or not. 9.2 She would contend that the very Chennai Bench of the CESTAT in the appellant's own case for a different period vide Final Order No. 41394-41395 of 2021 dated 17.03.2021 [2021 (3) TMI 681 - CESTAT, Chennai] has, following the decision in M/s. GMR Aerospace Engineering Ltd. (supra), granted exemption from payment of Service Tax. 9.3 She would also contend that the lower authorities have travelled beyond the Show Cause Notice in confirming the demand by observing that the services in question were consumed outside the SEZ, which allegation was never put across to the appellant in the Show Cause Notice. 9.4 Ld. Advocate would rely on the decision of the Hon'ble Delhi High Court in the case of M/s. Jindal Stainless Ltd. v. Union of India [2017 (51) S.T.R. 130 (Del.)] wherein it has been categorically held that exemption from Service Tax is available even if the services are consumed outside the SEZ so long as the services are used for authorized operations and that words cannot be added to the statute when there was no express requirement in the SEZ Act and the SEZ Rules that only services which are consumed within the SEZ would be exempted from payment of Serv....
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.... in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (i), vide number G.S.R. 482(E), dated the 20th June, 2012, except as respects things done or omitted to be done before such supersession, the Central Government, on being satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest so to do, hereby exempts the services on which service tax is leviable under section 66B of the said Act, received by a unit located in a Special Economic Zone (hereinafter referred to as SEZ Unit) or Developer of SEZ (hereinafter referred to as the Developer) and used for the authorised operation from the whole of the service tax, education cess, and secondary and higher education cess leviable thereon. 2. The exemption shall be provided by way of refund of service tax paid on the specified services received by the SEZ Unit or the Developer and used for the authorised operations: Provided that where the specified services received by the SEZ Unit or the Developer are used exclusively for the authorised operations, the person liable to pay service tax has the option not to pay the service tax ab initio, subject to the conditions and procedure as stated below. 3. ....
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....re and conditions, namely :- (a) the service tax paid on the specified services that are common to the authorised operation in an SEZ and the operation in domestic tariff area [DTA unit(s)] shall be distributed amongst the SEZ Unit or the Developer and the DTA unit (s) in the manner as prescribed in rule 7 of the Cenvat Credit Rules. For the purpose of distribution, the turnover of the SEZ Unit or the Developer shall be taken as the turnover of authorised operation during the relevant period. (b) the SEZ Unit or the Developer shall be entitled to refund of the service tax paid on (i) the specified services on which ab-initio exemption is admissible but not claimed, and (ii) the amount distributed to it in terms of clause (a). (c) the SEZ Unit or Developer who is registered as an assessee under the Central Excise Act, 1944 (1 of 1944) or the rules made thereunder, or the said Act or the rules made thereunder, shall file the claim for refund to the jurisdictional Deputy Commissioner of Central Excise or Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise, the as the case may be, in Form A-4; (d) the amount indicated in the invoice, bill or, as the case may be....
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....oner (Appeals) has given his findings on the ground that the services were found to be not eligible for availing this exemption as they were received / carried out outside the SEZ zone. He has not found that the services were not used for authorized operations. Revenue has also not filed any appeal against the impugned order. 13.1 The Hon'ble Telangana High Court in the case of M/s. GMR Aerospace Engineering Ltd. (supra), while examining Notifications issued under Section 93 of the Finance Act, 1994 and the benefit of exemption flowing therefrom, has held as under: - "34. The benefit of exemptions granted under the notifications issued under Section 93 of the Finance Act, 1994, are available to any one and not necessarily confined to a unit in a special economic zone. Section 93 of the Finance Act, in that sense is a general power of exemption available in respect of all taxable services. But, Section 26(1) is a special power of exemption under a special enactment dealing with a unit in a special economic zone. Therefore, the notifications issued under Section 93 of the Finance Act, 1994 cannot be pressed into service for finding out whether a unit in a SEZ qualifies fo....
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....vices were received outside the SEZ area. (d) Renting of motor vehicle Obtained services for daily transportation of employees to the manufacturing facility. Procedure for filing the forms A.1, A.2 and A.3 stipulated in the Notification was not complied with within the stipulated time. 14.2 The demand insofar as item (d) above is concerned, the same has been deleted by the Commissioner (Appeals) and therefore, our discussion is restricted to the other services at (a), (b) and (c). 15. As regards item (a) above, the explanation of the appellant, as could be picked up from the documents placed on record, reveals that the same relates to the services procured for construction of toilets and repair and maintenance of school premises in the villages near their factory - as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activity within the meaning of Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013. We also find that works contract service, as undertaken above, has direct nexus with the activities of the appellant carried on in the SEZ inasmuch as the same is towards the fulfilment of CSR obligations. 16.1 We also find that the location of the SEZ unit of the appellant is....