TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (9) TMI 332
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.... Order in Original No. 08/NY/JC/GST/DE/2019-20 dated 6.8.2019 No. 12/NY/JC/GST/DE/2019-20 dated14.8.2019 No. 11/NY/JC/GST/DE/2019-20 dated 14.8.2019 Order in Appeal (Impugned order) 38/ST/DLH/2020 dated 14.7.2020 37/ST/DLH/2020 dated 14.7.2020 36/ST/DLH/2020 dated 14.7.2020 Disputed period 1.4.2013 to 31.3.2014 1.4.2013 to 31.3.2014 1.4.2013 to 31.3.2014 Service tax demanded Rs. 55,62,000/- with Interest under section 75 Penalty under section 77 Rs. 10,000/- Penalty under section 78- Rs. 55,62,000/- Rs. 55,62,000/- with Interest under section 75 Penalty under section 77 Rs. 10,000/- Penalty under section 78- Rs. 55,62,000/- Rs. 55,62,000/- with Interest under section 75 Penalty under section 77 Rs. 10,000/- Penalty under section 78- Rs. 55,62,000/- 2. We have heard Shri A.K. Batra, learned chartered accountant for the appellants and Shri Rajeev Kapoor and Shri Suresh Nandanwar, learned authorised representative for the Revenue and perused the records. The facts which led to the issue of the impugned order are as follows: 3. The appellants were registered with the service tax department for providing s....
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....in the scope of 'service' as per section 66B (44) of the Act. (iv) Another way of looking at the receipts is as actionable claims which are explicitly excluded from the scope of section 66B (44) of the Act. (v) Extended period of limitation cannot be invoked in this case. (vi) If at all service tax is confirmed against the appellants, cum tax benefit may be given, i.e., the sums received should be considered as inclusive of the tax and the amount of service tax calculated accordingly. (vii) Penalties cannot be imposed on the appellants. Submissions of the Revenue 8. Learned authorised representative for the Revenue vehemently supported in the impugned order and made the following submissions: (i) The amounts received by the appellants were as per the agreement called the Memorandum of Settlement signed by the appellants with the land owners and not as per the original agreement to sell signed between the appellants and the land owners. (ii) In the original agreement to sell, the appellants paid an amount as earnest money and thereby earned the right to buy the land from the land owners. Having signed the agreement to sell ....
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....s payable on taxable services rendered. These were listed in various clauses of section 65 (105). Over years, more and more services were included in the list of taxable services under various clauses of section 65(105) of the Act. Tax had to be paid if a taxable service was rendered for a consideration and not otherwise. 11. Significant changes were made to the Act in 2012 and all services except those in the negative list and especially those which were 'Declared Services' became exigible to service tax. These provisions are relevant to these three appeals. Unless the rendered service was under the negative list or was exempted, service tax had to be paid after 2012. Service tax had to be certainly paid on the declared services under section 66E of the Act. The relevant provisions are as follows: "Section 66B There shall be levied a tax (hereinafter referred to as the service tax) at the rate of fourteen per cent on the value of all services, other than those services specified in the negative list, provided or agreed to be provided in the taxable territory by one person to another and collected in such manner as may be prescribed. Section 65 B: In t....
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....is provided or agreed to be provided, a service tax had to be paid at fourteen percent of the value of the service. The definition of 'Service' as per section 65B (44) has three parts- the main part, an inclusion part and an exclusion part. As is well known, the inclusion part expands the scope of the term beyond the main part of the definition and the exclusion part reduces the scope of the term. 13. The main part of the definition says service means any activity carried out by a person for another for consideration. Thus, it must be an activity and it must have been carried out by a person for another and for a consideration. This definition is enlarged by the inclusion part of the definition 'and includes declared services'. Therefore, if something is a declared service, even if does not fall within the scope of the main part of the definition, it would still be 'service'. The exclusion part of the definition then narrows the scope of the term by excluding certain services. 14. We now proceed to look at the scope of 'Declared services' under section 66E. It lists certain things to be declared services. Clause (e) reads as 'agreeing to the obligation to refrain from an act,....