TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (7) TMI 767
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....ed by the assessee assailing the Final Order Nos. 20133-20134/2022 dated 31.03.2022 in STA.No.846 and 864 of 2009 passed by the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, Bangalore (for short, "the Tribunal'), whereby the Tribunal dismissed the appeal preferred by the assessee challenging the rejection of its refund claim. 2. The appellant is a company engaged in extraction, processing and export of iron ore. During the relevant period, i.e. from 01.01.2006 to 28.02.2007, the appellant availed transportation services for movement of iron ore from the mine head to the processing plant and thereafter to the railway siding, river side and ports for shipment. Pursuant to investigation conducted by the Preventive Division, the ap....
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....or classification of a service as GTA service and, in the absence of such consignment notes, no service tax liability could arise under the said category. 6. It is further contended that the "pay slips" relied upon by the authorities were merely internal documents prepared by the appellant for identification of vehicles and payment of freight charges and could not be treated as consignment notes contemplated under Rule 4B of the Service Tax Rules, 1994. Hence the activity in question was not taxable as GTA service and the amount deposited during investigation was liable to be refunded. Accordingly, he prays to allow the appeal. To buttress his arguments and in support of his contention, the learned counsel has placed reliance on followin....
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....paid and the appeal deserves to be dismissed. 9. Having regard to the rival submissions sole point that would arise for our consideration is: "Whether the Tribunal was justified in rejecting the appellant's claim that, in the absence of consignment notes issued by a Goods Transport Agency, no service tax liability could arise under the category of "Goods Transport Agency" service?" 10. As could be gathered from the records, the fact that the appellant had engaged individual truck owners for transportation of iron ore during the relevant period is not in dispute. The dispute essentially centres around the question as to whether such transportation would fall within the ambit of "Goods Transport Agency" service as defined u....
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.... mere fact that it is described as a "pay slip" would not alter its legal character. 13. The contention that the pay slips were merely internal documents of the appellant and not the consignment notes, also does not hold much water. The authorities below have concurrently recorded a finding, affirmed by the Tribunal, that the said documents depicted the movement of goods and contained material particulars concerning the transportation undertaken. 14. The judgments relied upon by the appellant- assessee are distinguishable on facts and, therefore, do not advance its case. In all those decisions, the Courts found that no goods consignment notes had been issued by the transporter. In the present case, however, as discussed hereinabove, t....