2015 (9) TMI 529 - AT - Service Tax

Denial of refund claim - Notification No. 9/2009-ST dated 3.3.2009 - duty paying documents were not furnished - Held that - appellant while making the rebate claims furnished a calculation sheet showing the documents under which the duty payment has been made to the service providers and also the cheques through which such payments were made. Serial No. 5 of their refund application dated 25.03.2011 also indicates that the invoices/bills evidences payment of service tax are enclosed. Serial No. 1 of the calculation sheet is for Bill No. 7850397 issued by Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and the corresponding copy of invoice/bill furnished by the appellant indicates the service tax registration No. of the service provider and also the amounts of service tax paid by the service provider are available. Such documents indicating payment of service tax and constitute sufficient evidence on the part of the appellant to claim the benefit of Notification No. 9/2009-ST dated 03.03.2009 as amended. However, appellant has not furnished all such duty paying documents in the appeal memorandum or during the course of hearing. The matter is, therefore, required to be remanded back to the Adjudicating Authority. Appellants should furnish all the duty paying documents to the adjudicating authority as indicated in their calculation chart furnished along with the refund application dated 25.03.2011. - Matter remanded back - Decided in favour of assessee.

Summary

Issues:
Refund claim rejection based on non-furnishing of duty paying documents.

Analysis:
The appellant filed an appeal against the rejection of their refund claim by the first appellate authority. The appellant's representative argued that all necessary documents evidencing payment of service tax were provided to the Adjudicating Authority along with a calculation chart. The appellant highlighted specific invoices, including Bill No. 750379 from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, to support their claim. The Revenue, represented by Sh. J Nair, defended the lower authorities' decisions.

Upon reviewing the case records, it was noted that the first appellate authority rejected the appeal due to the appellant's alleged failure to furnish duty paying documents. However, the appellant had indeed submitted a calculation sheet and invoices demonstrating service tax payments, such as Bill No. 7850397 from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. The documents provided by the appellant were deemed sufficient evidence to support their claim under Notification No. 9/2009-ST dated 03.03.2009. The Tribunal concluded that the matter should be remanded back to the Adjudicating Authority for further verification. The Adjudicating Authority was instructed to review all duty paying documents indicated in the calculation chart submitted with the refund application and, upon verification, sanction the refund claim. The appellant was also granted the opportunity for a personal hearing to explain their case.

Ultimately, the appeal was allowed by remanding the case to the Adjudicating Authority, thereby setting aside the first appellate authority's decision dated 13.03.2013.