9911796707
TMI Blog2019 (3) TMI 34X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... by the appellant M/s Mohan Steels Corporation (MSC) in appeal E/30306/2017 and other appeals are against co-noticees with respect to confiscation of the goods seized from their premises and the imposition of penalties. 2. Heard both sides and perused the records. 3. The facts of the case in brief are that the main appellant MSC are registered with Central Excise department as a trader for issue of duty paid documents in respect of the steel sheets which they purchase from M/s JSW Steel Ltd and sell to others. They also have taken registration from the Central Excise department for rendering 'business auxiliary services' and 'storage and warehousing services'. The officers of the DGCEI gathered intelligence that the appellant is, under th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ithin the knowledge of the department and they have been paying service tax on the process of corrugation under the head of 'business auxiliary service'. He takes the bench through some of the invoices and shows that whenever they sold corrugated sheets to their customers, they have issued tax invoices for the sheet as shown in Pg.191 of the paper book in appeal E/30306/2017. Correspondingly, they have also issued a separate invoice for the corrugation work undertaken by them for the same goods as shown in Pg.210 of the same paper book. He would argue that mere uncoiling sheets from the rolls, cutting them into sizes and corrugating them into corrugated sheets does not amount to manufacture. The sheet continues to be sheet whether or not th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... liable to pay excise duty on the final products, they are entitled to the credit of the duty paid on the steel sheets which are their inputs. Once, the CENVAT credit is allowed, the bulk of the demand would extinguish anyway as can be seen from the invoices. Bulk of the price which they recover from their customers is towards steel sheets and only a small amount is collected towards the corrugation. (d) In view of the above, it cannot be alleged that they had an intention to evade payment of duty because on the raw material cost they would have got CENVAT credit anyway and on the value addition by way of corrugation, they have been paying service tax at the rate of 12%. Therefore, by no stretch of imagination can it be said that they have ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... isdeclaring the description of the goods in the invoices and evading excise duty. On the question of payment of service tax on the corrugation, the learned department representative would assert that the appellant never disclosed the nature of the activities to the department and has only filed ST-3 returns indicating that they have paid some amounts as service tax under 'business auxiliary service'. There is nothing on record to show that they appellant has described nature of the activity or sought any clarification from the department whether this activity amounts to manufacture. It was incumbent upon the appellant to have disclosed the true nature of the activities and pay excise duty which they have not done. Therefore, the demand for ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... no hesitation in holding that the appellant has indeed manufactured the profiles from the sheets. We do not agree with the learned counsel for the appellant that the processing does not amount to manufacture. 9. On the issue of limitation of time, we find that the appellant was registered with the Central Excise department both as a trader and also as a service provider. He has been paying service tax as a service provider on the corrugation part of his work. The service tax payable on the corrugation is 12% of the service charges which he collected for such corrugation. He has been reflecting this activity in the ST-3 returns under these circumstances we find it inconceivable that even with minimum scrutiny of the service tax returns, the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
