2013 (7) TMI 779 - AT - Service Tax

Classification of service - storage of sugar - Whether service or not Held that - followed the judgement COMMR. OF C. EX., CHANDIGARH Versus NAHAR INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES LTD.(2010 (1) TMI 400 - PUNJAB & HARYANA HIGH COURT) - if The act of the Assessee can not be called as rendering of services - just because the storage period of free sale sugar had to be extended at the behest of Government of India - neither the sugar mills becomes Storage and Warehouse keeper nor the Government of India become their client - the storage of specific quantity of free sale sugar cannot be treated as providing Storage and Warehousing services to the Government of India appeal decided against revenue.

Summary

Issues:
Appeal against Order-in-Appeal Nos. PII/84/06, PII/85/2006, and PII/64/06 dated 30/03/2006 and 17/03/2006 respectively. Common issue of service tax liability for storage and warehousing services related to maintaining a buffer stock of sugar.

Analysis:
The appellants, sugar manufacturers, were directed by the Government of India to maintain a buffer stock of sugar in their factory, for which they paid a subsidy. The revenue contended that this constituted a service to the government, making it liable for service tax under "storage and warehousing services." Notices were issued, demands confirmed, and penalties imposed. The lower appellate authority ruled in favor of the appellants, stating that as the goods belonged to the appellants themselves and the storage was for their own goods, no service was rendered. The authority also found the demands to be time-barred. The revenue appealed these decisions.

The revenue argued that the service tax liability existed, reiterating their grounds. However, the respondent's counsel cited a decision from the Hon'ble High Court of Punjab & Haryana in a similar case, Nahar Industrial Enterprises Ltd., which held that no service tax could be levied when the goods were stored by the owner for themselves, as in this case. The court emphasized that the subsidy received was not for services to the government but as compensation for costs incurred due to maintaining the stock. The court dismissed the appeal, favoring the respondent.

Considering the submissions and the precedent set by the Hon'ble High Court of Punjab & Haryana in Nahar Industrial Enterprises Ltd., the tribunal found the facts in the present case to be identical. Therefore, following the court's decision, the tribunal dismissed the revenue's appeals as lacking merit.

In conclusion, the tribunal upheld the lower appellate authority's decision, ruling that no service tax liability existed as the storage was for the appellants' own goods. The appeals by the revenue were dismissed based on the precedent set by the Hon'ble High Court of Punjab & Haryana, emphasizing that no service was provided to the government in this scenario.