2016 (8) TMI 242 - AT - Service Tax

Cenvat credit refund relevant date - export of services Held that - relevant date is receipt of inward remittances. In determination of the last date commencing with the date of receipt of inward remittance, due regard must be had to the last day of the quarter as a practical unavoidability . Claims not time barred - eligibility for refund to that amount of credit as is the proportion that the export turnover bears to the total turnover - Appeal dismissed cross objection disposed off.

Summary

Issues:
- Refund claim eligibility under Rule 5 of CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004
- Time limit for filing refund claim under notification no. 5/2006-CE (NT)
- Interpretation of relevant dates for refund claim
- Compliance with documentation requirements for refund claim
- Restriction on the number of claims per quarter
- Computation of refund eligibility based on turnover

Analysis:
1. The appeal was filed against the modification of the refund order by the Commissioner of Service Tax (Appeals), Pune, allowing a partial refund of the amount claimed by the respondent. The respondent, engaged in providing consulting engineers service and business auxiliary service, sought reimbursement for input services used in exporting services under Rule 5 of the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004.

2. The challenge in the impugned order was regarding the time limit for filing the refund claim as per notification no. 5/2006-CE (NT). The dispute arose from differing interpretations of the relevant date for computation of the prescribed one year. The original authority rejected the claim for being filed beyond one year from the date of receipt of the inward remittance certificate.

3. The Authorized Representative argued for the relevance of the date of payment of duty as per section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944. However, it was noted that the application form required backing by an invoice copy and a bank certificate for realization of remittance. Previous judgments, including GTN Engineering (I) Ltd v. Commissioner of Central Excise and Bechtel India Pvt Ltd v. Commissioner of Central Excise, established that the time limit in Section 11B did not apply to refund claims of accumulated credit.

4. The notification limited the number of claims per quarter to one, necessitating consideration of the last day of the quarter even when determining the last date from the receipt of inward remittance. The impugned order's finding that the claims were not time-barred was deemed equitable and legally sound. The refund eligibility was computed based on the proportion of export turnover to total turnover, with no identified infirmity in the order.

5. Consequently, the appeal was dismissed, and the cross-objection was also disposed of, affirming the decision of the Commissioner of Service Tax (Appeals) regarding the refund claim.