Big Relief to Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, CESTAT Deletes Tax Demand on GTA Services

The Tamil Nadu Electricity Board has been granted relief by the Chennai bench of the Customs, Excise, and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT). The bench considering the limitation has quashed the service tax demand on the Goods Transport Agent (GTA) services.

The Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, the appellant in this case, is involved in the manufacturing of Line products and Tower parts. These products are transported to different distribution circles of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) in Mettur, using the services of two contractors named Natarajan and Annai Enterprises.

The appellant disputed the directive issued by the Commissioner of Customs and Central Excise (Appeals) and filed an appeal to validate the demand for service tax, including interest and penalties. Manoj Niranjan represented the appellant as their counsel.

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The counsel argued that since the transmission utility and distribution are exempted from paying service tax for related services under the exemption notification no. 11/2010-ST, the entire amount of service tax demanded had already been carried out.

Therefore, the contested order was not valid, and the invocation of the extended period was unjustified since there was no violation of the provisions of the Finance Act, of 1994.

Harendra Singh Pal, the counsel representing the department, put forward the argument that the responsibility for paying the service tax lies with the consignor or the consignee, and in the case of the assessee, being a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956, they would be liable to pay service tax for the Goods Transport Agency (GTA) services received.

It was noted by the bench that the exemptions mentioned in Notification No. 45/2010-ST dated 20.07.2010 and Notification No. 11/2010-ST were comprehensive exemptions.

Because these notifications do not exempt any specific category of taxable service, but instead exempt all taxable services regarding the distribution and transmission of electricity.

Important:- Chennai ITAT: Tax Exemption U/S 11 Will Not Be Granted If Activity of Trust Are Commercial Nature

The service tax demand was quashed by the two-member bench consisting of P Dinesh (Judicial) and Vasa Seshagiri Rao (Technical) and approved the appeal file by the assessee.