Service tax refund claims and Rule 6(3) adjustments: procedural refund route required and burden of proof on claimant

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....The text addresses refund claims for erroneously paid service tax where a taxpayer adjusted such payment under Rule 6(3) instead of seeking a statutory refund. It states the adjustment was impermissible because payment remains government revenue until adjudicated, the correct remedy is a refund application under the statutory mechanism, and a statutory presumption exists that the incidence of tax is passed on to the buyer. Consequently the claimant bears the burden of proving the tax was not passed on; failure to discharge that burden sustains a confirmed demand for short payment and denial of the appeal.....