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2023 (9) TMI 922 - AT - Service TaxExemption from payment of tax or not - Educational Institute or commercial training or coaching centre - renting of immovable property services to M/s Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI) - HELD THAT - It has been held time and again that ICFAI is not an Educational Institution and is held to be a commercial training or coaching centre - reliance placed in the case of M/S. THE INSTITUTE OF CHARTERED FINANCIAL ANALYSTS OF INDIA, HYDERABAD (ICFAI) VERSUS CC CE, HYDERABAD 2013 (6) TMI 446 - CESTAT BANGALORE . In this case, the issue is as to whether the ICFAI was eligible for exemption from Service Tax for the fee collected from their students. ICFAI was claiming that since they were providing education to the students they were eligible to get the exemption for service tax. The Tribunal after going through the factual details held the assessees were providing to their students training or coaching for a consideration and would ipso facto fall within the ambit of commercial training or coaching centre envisaged in the explanation to Section 65(105)(zzc) of the Finance Act, 1994. As this explanation has retrospective effect from 01/07/2003, the activities undertaken by all the assessees during the periods of dispute would get covered within the meaning of the phrase training or coaching imparted for consideration occurring in the text of the explanation. From the above decision of the Bangalore Tribunal, it is clear that ICFAI has not been considered as an Educational Institution granting degrees recognised by UGC. Therefore, in the present case, the appellant claim that they have rendered services to Educational Institution cannot be accepted. The appeal is dismissed.
Issues involved: Interpretation of whether ICFAI is an Educational Institution exempt from Service Tax.
The Appellate Tribunal CESTAT Hyderabad heard an appeal regarding the appellant providing renting of immovable property services to ICFAI and AMPL. The appellant paid the Service Tax for services to AMPL but contested the tax liability for services to ICFAI, claiming ICFAI's status as an Educational Institution exempt from Service Tax. The Commissioner (Appeals) upheld the demand for ICFAI services, noting the interpretational issue of ICFAI's classification. The penalties were dropped. The appellant appealed to the Tribunal, with the Department not filing any appeal against the penalty decision. The appellant's representative argued that services to ICFAI, an educational provider, were correctly interpreted as exempt from Service Tax. The Authorized Representative for the respondent countered, citing a case where ICFAI was deemed a commercial training center, not an Educational Institution eligible for exemption. The Tribunal referenced a previous case where ICFAI was found not to be an Educational Institution granting recognized degrees, supporting the denial of the appellant's claim. In conclusion, the Tribunal dismissed the appeal after considering the arguments and precedents presented during the hearing.
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