2012 (8) TMI 206 - AT - Service Tax

Whether appellants who are actually selling SIM Cards of BSNL to the customers are liable to the service tax or not Held that - all the stay applications filed by the Revenue, are rejected.

Summary

Issues: Whether the appellants selling SIM Cards of BSNL to customers are liable to pay service tax.

The Appellate Tribunal CESTAT, MUMBAI, comprising B S V Murthy and Ashok Jindal, JJ., addressed the issue of service tax liability on the sale of SIM Cards by the appellants. The Commissioner (Appeals) had ruled in favor of the appellants, stating that since BSNL had already paid service tax, and the dealers were involved in marketing and selling activities without providing any additional service, the appellants were not liable for service tax. The Tribunal considered the arguments presented and noted that similar cases had been granted stays unconditionally by the Tribunal in the past. Citing specific cases where stay had been granted against service tax recovery on SIM Cards, the Tribunal rejected the Revenue's appeal for a stay against the Commissioner (Appeals) order. The Tribunal found no grounds to grant a stay in favor of the Revenue, considering the consistent precedent of granting stays in similar cases. Consequently, the stay applications filed by the Revenue were rejected, and the decision was pronounced in open court.