TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (4) TMI 432
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....nducted for the Financial Years starting from 2010-11 to 2014-15 (upto September, 2014). The Department observed that the appellant should not have discharged Service Tax liability on legal services under reverse charge mechanism and subsequently should not have availed Cenvat Credit. The Appellant was asked to reverse such Cenvat Credit availed. The appellant reversed the Cenvat Credit under intimation to the Department. Thereafter, the appellant filed a refund claim of Rs.7,23,239/- for the period 1st August, 2014 to 31st July, 2015 which was sanctioned and paid to the Appellant. This sanction was set aside on appeal by the Department. Thereafter on appeal, the Tribunal dismissed the appeal filed by the Appellant upholding the Commissioner (Appeal)'s order. The appellant then filed the present refund claim amounting to Rs.95,01,092/-. The Order-in-Original dated 21.02.2017 rejected the refund claim. Thereafter, vide the impugned Order-in-Appeal, the refund was rejected and the benefit of exemption of Notification No. 33/2012-ST dated 20.06.2012 was denied to the appellant. Aggrieved by the said order, the present appeal has been filed before this Tribunal. 3. Learned Chartered....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....er reverse charge mechanism. He stated that the appellant had already deposited the service tax and Cenvat Credit taken by the Appellant had been reversed before filing of the refund. The Appellant was, therefore, eligible for the benefit of the refund of the tax paid. 3.3 Learned Chartered Accountant further stated that the legal services were covered under Notification No. 30/2012 dated 20.06.2012 for discharge of tax liability under reverse charge mechanism. He also submitted that the appellant had discharged the tax liability on legal services under reverse charge mechanism. On being pointed out in the audit report, the Cenvat credit taken on the amount of Service Tax paid on legal service was reversed. As a consequence, the appellant applied for the refund of tax paid under RCM based on the outcome of audit objection. He contended that GST was applicable w.e.f. 1.7.2017 and the Appellant cannot claim Cenvat Credit now, of the tax wrongly paid, as the Appellant had already transitioned to the GST regime and had carried forward the input tax credit by filing Form GST TRAN-1. Thus, in the instant case, the availment of Cenvat Credit cannot be done and as such the only legal re....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... 14. There is no doubt in our minds, that if the Revenue is allowed to keep the excess service tax paid, it would not be proper, and against the tenets of Article 265 of the Constitution of India." 3.6 Learned counsel submitted that the Chartered Accountant's Certificate was a valid evidence to confirm non passing of incidence of duty to the buyer. In this regard he relied on the following decisions: (a) Madhucon Bina Puri v. Commissioner of Custom (Preventive), Mumbai [(2015) 320 ELT 458; (2015) 12 TMI 787 (Cestat, Mumbai)] (b) Business Overseas Corporation v. C.C. (Import & General), New Delhi [(2015) 317 ELT 637; (2014) 11 TMI528 (Cestat, New Delhi)] (c) Tirumala Bearings (P) Ltd. v. C.C.E. & CUS. (Appeals), Visakhapatnam [2016) 335 ELT 145; 2015) 12 TMI 655 (Cestat, Bangalore)] (d) Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd. v Commissioner of Central Excise, Pune-III [(2014) TIOL 1540; (2015) 375 STR 316; (2014) 8 TMI 787 (Cestat, Mumbai] 4. At the outset, learned authorised representative reiterated the findings in the Order-in-Original and the impugned Order-in-Appeal. Learned authorised representative submitted that the issue was co....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....e consider the submissions of the appellant, we need to understand the conditions prescribed by Notification No.25/2012-ST dated 20.06.2012, which is reproduced below: "6. Services provided by- (a) an arbitral tribunal to - (i) any person other than a business entity; or (ii) a business entity with a turnover up to rupees ten lakh in the preceding financial year; (b) an individual as an advocate or a partnership firm of advocates by way of legal services to,- (i) an advocate or partnership firm of advocates providing legal services; (ii) any person other than a business entity; or (iii) a business entity with a turnover up to rupees ten lakh in the preceding financial year; or (c) a person represented on an arbitral tribunal to an arbitral tribunal;" 6.1 From the above, it is apparent that the Notification grants exemption to services provided by an individual advocate or a law firm to a Business entity with a turnover upto Rs.10 lakhs in the preceding financial year. We note that the appellant has claimed exemption under the said notification. In order to satisfy this condition of the said notifica....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....s a Private Limited Company hence qualifies the definition and thereby the first condition of the notification. 6. Coming to the fulfilment of second condition, it is observed that term "turnover" has not been defined in either Finance Act, 1994 or in Central Excise Act, 1944. Though Commissioner (Appeals) has relied upon the definition of turnover as given in Section 2(91) of the Companies Act, 2013 and that the said Act is not pari materia to any of the above-mentioned Acts. The contentions of the appellant to that extent is acceptable that different statutes seek to achieve different objectives, due interpretation of expressions used in one statute with reference to other use in another statutes cannot be applied for, as has been settled by Supreme Court in the case State of Punjab v. Okara Grave Buyers - AIR 1964 S.C. 669. But it is equally the settled law that the terms which have not been defined in a statute, the common and the general meaning thereof shall be attributed. 7. Coming to the dictionary meaning of turnover, various dictionaries define the same as follows:- (a) Oxford Dictionary - the amount of money taken by a business in a particular ....