2018 (2) TMI 946 - CESTAT BANGALORE

Refund claim - time limit - Section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944 - whether the time limit prescribed under Section 11B in respect of filing of refund claims is to be applied from the date of receipt of payment for export of services or can be considered from the end of the quarter in which such payments have been received?

Held that: - there is a specific condition that the refund claims are required to be filed within the period specified under Section 11B. Consequently, completely ignoring the provisions of Section 11B may not be appropriate.

The definition of relevant date in Section 11B does not specifically cover the case of export of services. Hence, it is necessary to interpret the provisions constructively so as to give it meaning such that the objective of the provisions; i.e. to grant refund of unutilized CENVAT credit, is facilitated. By reference to the Service Tax Rules, 1994 as well as the successor provisions i.e. the Export of Service Rules, 2005, we note that export of services is completed only with receipt of the consideration in foreign exchange. Consequently, the date of Foreign Inward Remittance Certificate (FIRC) is definitely relevant.

In respect of export of services, the relevant date for purposes of deciding the time limit for consideration of refund claims under Rule 5 of the CCR may be taken as the end of the quarter in which the FIRC is received, in cases where the refund claims are filed on a quarterly basis.

The matter reverted to the regular Benches for deciding the respective appeals.