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TMI Blog2017 (12) TMI 509X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ey have supported the commerce or business of doctors by providing infrastructure. We find that such assertion is neither factually nor legally sustainable The service provided by the respondent hospital would merit classification under Health Care Services extended to the patients. Accordingly, the demand proceedings against the respondent hospital was dropped - Appeals are disposed-of. - ST/1844/2010, 51751/2014, 51815/2015, 50125/2014, 51764/2014, 50367/2016 & ST/51630/2016 - ST/A/58226-58232/2017-CU[DB] - Dated:- 6-12-2017 - S. K. Mohanty, Member (Judicial) And B. Ravichandran, Member (Technical) For the Appellant : Shri B.L. Narsimhan, Ms Shagun Arora, Sh V.S. Manoj, Advocate For the Respondent : Shri Amresh Jain, DR ORDER Per B. Ravichandran These 7 appeals are involving common dispute and are accordingly taken up together for disposal. 6 appeals are by assessees. One is by Revenue. The appellant assessees are engaged in health care services to the patients and they are managing well-known hospitals/medical centres in various places. To provide the medical services to different patients, the appellants have engaged professionals and doctors on ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ied-out by the doctor generating more income, the revenue accruing to the doctors shall be more. The gain or loss of each party to the agreements depends on the working arrangement only. It is essentially a revenue sharing arrangement and not a case of one party providing service to another. c) Notwithstanding the above, service, if any, is provided by the doctors to the appellants not vice-versa. The doctors are required to treat the patients who visit the appellants hospital which is providing health care services. The doctors are helping the appellant hospital in providing such health care services and are getting paid for the same. d) Health care services are exempt from service tax for the period post negative list 01.07.2012. Health care services were selectively taxed for the period 01.07.2010 to 01.05.2011 and thereafter by notification No.30/2011 ST dated 25.04.2011, health care services were exempt from service tax. Post negative list regime with effect from 01.07.2012, health care services rendered by clinical establishments were exempt by Notification No.25/2012 ST dated 20.06.2012. In such facts and circumstances, the view of the revenue that though health ca ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ned by the appellant hospitals, are rightly subjected to service tax for providing support services. 4. We have heard both the sides and perused the appeal records. We have also perused specifically the terms of some of the agreements on record. The dispute in the present appeals is with reference to the tax liability of the appellant hospitals under the category of business support services. The statutory provision for the said tax entry is as below: Section 65 (104c) support services of business or commerce means services provided in relation to business or commerce and includes evaluation of prospective customers, telemarketing, processing of purchase orders and fulfillment services, information and tracking of delivery schedules, managing distribution and logistics, customer relationship management services, accounting and processing of transactions, operational or administrative assistance in any manner, formulation of customer service and pricing policies, infrastructural support services and other transaction processing. Explanation. For the purposes of this clause, the expression infrastructural support services includes providing office along with office u ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tractual arrangements like the present ones. In such arrangement, the doctors of required qualification are engaged/contractually appointed to provide health care services. It is a mutually beneficial arrangement. There is a revenue sharing model. The doctor is attending to the patient for treatment using his professional skill and knowledge. The appellants hospitals are managing the patients from the time they enter the hospital till they leave the premises. ID cards are provided, records are maintained, all the supporting assistance are also provided when the patients are in the appellant hospital premises. The appellant hospital also manages the follow-up procedures and provide for further health service in the manner as required by the patients. As can be seen that the appellants hospitals are actually availing the professional services of the doctors for providing health care service. For this, they are paying the doctors. The retained money out of the amount charged from the patients is necessarily also for such health care services. The patient paid the full amount to the appellant hospitals and received health care services. For providing such services, the appellants enter ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tals and for specified patients during the period 01.07.2010 to 01.05.2011. With effect from 01.05.2011, health care services were exempt from service tax under Notification No.30/2011 ST. After introduction of negative list tax regime, Notification No. 25/2011-ST exempted levy of service tax on health care services rendered by clinical establishments. We have examined the scope of the terms clinical establishments and health care services . The notification defines these terms. The term clinical establishments is defined as below: Clinical establishment means hospital, nursing home, clinic, sanatorium or any other institution by whatever name called, that offers services or facilities requiring diagnosis or treatment of care for illness, injury, deformity, abnormality or pregnancy in any recognized system of medicines in India, or a place established as an independent entity or a part of an establishment to carry out diagnostic or investigative services of diseases. 10. The terms health care services is defined as below: health care services means any service by way of diagnosis or treatment or care for illness, injury, deformity, abnormality or pregnancy i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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