2013 (8) TMI 167 - AT - Service Tax

Show cause notice for revising the order of adjudicating authority commercial coaching and training - vocational training - Assessee a charitable institution and is covered by the definition in terms of Section 65 (27) - Exemption under the Notification No. 24/04-ST dated 10.09.04 Held that - Even when this issue was raised by the appellant in reply to the revision show cause notice and during the personal hearing also, no finding is given by the revisionary authority on this issue. This is fatal to the proceedings because the finding that they were eligible for the exemption under notification 24/04-ST had become final and there was no proposal for revising the finding in the show cause notice and here is no finding in the order and no reasoning has been given on this issue - Not going into merits of this issue whether the appellants were running a commercial institute or whether the training was really a vocational training or the question whether extended period of time would be invoked in the original show cause notice, the preliminary objection of no finding given by the revisionary authority on the issues raised in revisionary show cause notice is upheld. Revenue directed to refund the amount deposited by the appellant s during the investigation stage. Decided in favor of Assessee.

Summary

Issues:
1. Appeal against order passed by Commissioner of Service Tax under Section 84 of the Finance Act, 1994 for revision of orders by Additional Commissioner.
2. Appeal regarding refund claim not paid after being sanctioned.

Analysis:
1. The first appeal pertains to an order passed by the Commissioner of Service Tax under Section 84 of the Finance Act, 1994 for revising orders made by the Additional Commissioner. The appellant, a charitable trust providing coaching and training services, had not paid service tax for services rendered from July 2003 to November 2005. The Additional Commissioner concluded that the appellant, being a charitable organization, was not covered under the definition of 'Commercial Training or Coaching Institutes' as per Section 65(27) of the Finance Act, 1994. The Commissioner later issued a revision order deeming the initial adjudication order as improper, leading to a challenge by the appellant.

2. Simultaneously, a refund claim made by the appellant was sanctioned by the Assistant Commissioner but remained unpaid. The Commissioner initiated a revision of this sanction order as well. The appellant contended that the demand against them was dropped by the Additional Commissioner based on two grounds: not being a commercial organization and the courses being eligible for exemption under Notification No. 24/04-ST. The appellant argued that the revision notice did not propose revising the finding on exemption eligibility, rendering the subsequent confirmation of demand legally unsustainable.

3. The Revenue argued that the revision show cause notice aimed to restore all proposals from the initial notice, including the issue of vocational training exemption. However, the Tribunal noted that the revision notice did not specifically address revising the finding on vocational training eligibility. Despite the appellant raising this issue during the proceedings, the revisionary authority did not provide a finding on this crucial matter. Consequently, the Tribunal found the lack of revision on this issue fatal to the proceedings, leading to the allowance of both appeals and directing the refund of the deposited amount by the appellant during the investigation stage.