TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (3) TMI 105
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....als-I), Central Excise Commissionerate, Delhi, whereby the learned Commissioner (Appeals) has rejected the appeal of the Appellant by upholding the Order-in-Original ('OIO'). 2. Briefly stated facts of the present case are that the Appellant, M/s Panchkula Golf Club, is registered with the Service Tax department for providing taxable services under the category of 'Club or Association Membership Services'. An audit of the Appellant's record was conducted by the department and it was found that the Appellant had not discharged the appropriate service tax liability on the correct taxable value as reflected in the balance-sheet vis-à-vis the value declared in the ST-3 returns for the period 2008-09 to 2011-12. On this allegation, a S....
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....p fees, subscriptions and related charges are governed by the principle of mutuality i.e. the contributors and the beneficiaries being identical. He further submits that it is a settled law that a person cannot make profit out of himself and therefore, any services or facilities provided by a club to its members cannot be considered a service between two distinct persons and hence cannot be subjected to service tax. He further submits that this issue is no more res integra and has been settled by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of State of West Bengal vs. Calcutta Club Ltd - 2019 (29) GSTL 545 (SC) wherein the Hon'ble Supreme Court has affirmed that incorporated or registered clubs and associations were outside the scope of service ta....
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....dered to members, thereby excluding any services rendered to non-members from the ambit of taxation. He also submits that it was only through the amendment introduced by Section 76 of the Finance Act, 2011 (w.e.f. 01.05.2011) that the phrase "or any other person" was inserted after the words "its members". He also submits that this amendment had widely expanded the tax base to cover services rendered to non-members. He also submits that prior to 01.05.2011, the levy of service tax on services rendered by the clubs or associations to non-members, was neither contemplated by the statute nor legally permissible. He further submits that the said amendment, being substantive in nature, cannot be applied retrospectively and therefore, any demand ....
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....of tax could be attributed to the Appellant. 5. On the other hand, the learned Authorized Representative for the Revenue reiterates the findings of the impugned order. 6. We have considered the submissions made by both the parties and perused the material on record. We find that the Appellant is a members club registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and is a body constituted under a law for the time being in force, which stood expressly excluded from the definition of "club or association" under Section 65(25a) of the Finance Act, 1994. 7. Further, we find that the main issue involved in the present case is whether the services rendered to its members by the club are taxable under the category of 'Club or Association ....