TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (3) TMI 675
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.... dated 17th December 2021] of Commissioner of GST & Customs (Appeals), Goa. 2. According to Learned Counsel for appellant, the issue may be decided without going into the 'nexus' between 'input service' and 'output' even though the present dispute has arisen from '4. After following the due process, the aforesaid notice was adjudicated by the Additional Commissioner, CGST, Goa Commissionerate vide O-I-O No 15/ADC/ADJ/GOA/CGST/ 18-19 dated 10.01.2019 and thereby the Adjudicating Authority had confirmed the demand of Cenvat Credit to the tune Rs. 24,12,510/- along with interest, but refrained from imposing any penalty. Being aggrieved by the said O-I-O the Noticee filed an appeal with the Commissioner (Appeals). The Commissioner (Appeals) vide his Order-in-Appeal No. GOA-EXCUS-OOO-APP-038-2019-20 dated 30.10.2019 upheld the demand of Cenvat Credit pertaining to Outward GTA services of Rs. 5,87,028/-, Repair and Maintenance services of Rs 1,84,236/-, Real Estate/Property services of Rs. 12,548/- (Total Rs. 7,83,812/-). However, the appellate authority allowed the Cenvat Credit of Rs. 20,672/- in respect of courier service Rs. 42,305/- in respect of catering services & Rs. ....
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....r a manufacturer of excisable goods nor a provider of output service, is permitted and, therefore, from not being in a position to utilize the credit so taken. From this, it is apparent that the mechanism provided in rule 7 of CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004, governing the distribution of such credit, deems the credit so distributed to be eligible credit for the purpose of utilization. A harmonious reading of rule 3 and rule 4 of CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004 and the conditions prescribed in rule 7 alone would determine the extent of validity of the credit so distributed within the scheme of CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004. The whole of it operates on presumption that the objective of the scheme, viz., restricting the tax liability at each stage in the chain only to the taxable event as set out in section 3 of Central Excise Act, 1944 and section 66/66B of Finance Act, 1994, will be adequately achieved by such distribution. 6. The decision of the Tribunal, in re Clariant Chemicals India Ltd, was rendered on the limited issue of applicability of rule 6 in relation to 'exempted services' and owing to which, the Tribunal, finding absence of mechanism for recovery, fell back upon a singularit....
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....9 of 2004] are seminal enough to warrant, for our purpose, mere reference without alluding to the significant portions. Propriety notwithstanding, and tempting though it may even be to the executive branch of government, the cascading effect of such measure on business, and the ultimate consumer, compelled the incorporation of some neutralizing mechanism. This was the inevitable consequence of expansion of the tax base from itemized, and limited, enumeration of goods with the insertion of a residuary tariff item and the subsequent adoption of the even more comprehensive Central Excise Tariff. The scheme of CENVAT credit restricts the actual collection to the value of contribution to the product emanating or service offering from the assessed entity which is the unambiguous intent of the charging provision. From the one-on-one correspondence of pro forma credit to the general pooling of CENVAT credit, the thread of continuity lies in this bridging intent. 16. Among the various perspectives of CENVAT credit, the two which predominate, and have coloured, the disputes are, in the eyes of the tax advisors, that it is a mirror of, and substitute for, the account current and, fro....
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....s it be in relation to manufacture. Even if such recovery is ordered with reference to rule 14 of CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004, wrongful availment must be established. In the scheme of input service distribution, the assessee-appellant is not required, by the framework Rules, to ascertain eligibility or be cognizant of the source of credit. It is a well-settled principle of natural justice that an assessee must not only be made aware of the reasons for proposed detriment but also be capable of defending its actions. The scheme of CENVAT credit precludes such defence by the appellant-assessee. The appellant-assessee is a recipient of credit that is assigned by the distributor who, undisputedly, has borne the incidence of tax on procured services. It is the distributor who can be charged with awareness of exempted output/output service, if any, and who is empowered by the statute to take the credit. And it is only such availment by the distributor that can be put to notice for ineligibility as espoused in the decisions that fulfill the criteria of precedent. 19. There is evident confusion arising from the evident dichotomy in the availment of ineligible credit and the utilizati....
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....ave been questioned in respect of individual services which might be referred in any annexure as an end of recipient unit. If any investigation/enquiry was required need to be made at the end of ISD. This view has been held by the Tribunal in various of decisions relevant paragraphs are reproduced below:- a. Godfrey Philips India Ltd. [2009 (239) E.L.T. 323 (Tri.-Ahmd.)]. "4.1 Input service distributor has been defined in sub-rule (m) of Rule 2 and reads as under :- (m) "input service distributor" means an office of the manufacturer or producer of final products or provider of output service, which receives invoices issued under rule 4A of the Service Tax Rules, 1994 towards purchases of input services and issues invoice, 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; 4.2 The definition of the input service distributor clearly says that he is not merely a dealer. The input service distributor has to be a office of the manufacturer or producer of final products or provider of output service who will distribute the credit to hi....
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....r and the documents to be issued by him for passing on the credit, it becomes quite clear that the document issued by him for passing on the credit does not contain the nature of service provided and the details of services. It contains the service provider's details, distributor's details and the amount. Obviously the eligibility or otherwise of the service tax credit has to be examined at the end of input service distributor only. This is further supported by the fact that both Central Excise assessees and Service Tax assessees are under the regime of self-assessment and therefore it is the assessee himself who has to specify that the credit availed by him is admissible. Therefore the input service distributor cannot say that he is not required to prove the eligibility or otherwise of the service tax credit since at the receiver's end which could be a branch or a factory of the distributor, no details would be available regarding the nature of service. Therefore the preliminary objection raised by the ld. Advocate has to be rejected and it has to be held that it is the responsibility of the jurisdictional officer with whom input service distributor has registered to decide the di....