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2013 (7) TMI 396 - AT - Service TaxManagement, maintenance and repair services – appellant contended that notification no. 24/2009-ST dated 27/07/2009 exemption was provided for whole of the service tax leviable thereon under section 66 and section 97 - exemption has been given retrospective effect for the period from 16/06/2005 to 26/07/209 – Held that:- When the impugned order was passed, the retrospective amendment had not come into force - the matter needs to be remanded back to the adjudicating authority for extending this exemption and re-computation of demand. Benefit of exemption for runways –Held that:- Benefit of exemption available to maintenance/repair of roads will not be available in respect of such activities carried out in respect of runways - According to International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) ‘runway' is defined as “a rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the taking off of aircraft” - as per the definition ‘runway' is only a rectangular strip of land for landing or taking off of aircrafts - By no stretch of imagination, the runway can be constructed as a road or as a species of a road - in the case of runways public access is prohibited and it is only meant for landing or taking off of the aircrafts - thus runway cannot be considered as a road. The specific exemption for maintenance or repair of roads by the legislature retrospectively clearly shows that the said activity is a taxable activity and, therefore, in public interest the same has been given exemption. If the activity was not taxable ab initio, there was no need for the legislature to pass a specific legislation for this purpose. This also shows that the reliance placed by the appellant on the various case laws in this regard does not support the contentions raised by the appellant. As regards the claim of the appellant that in respect of runways constructed in defence airports, the benefit of retrospective exemption under section 98 of the Finance Act, 2012 would be available, this aspect needs consideration by the adjudicating authority as this issue had not been raised or considered by the said authority.
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