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2014 (12) TMI 598 - AT - Service TaxClassification of services - Management Consultancy service or Business support services - nature of services are executionery or management consultancy - various activities like assisting the client in various field, advising the client on various aspects including liaising with various government departments, advising and assisting to solve various problems - Bring to the attention of the Company any improper or wrongful use of the Companys name, patents, trademarks, emblems, designs, models etc. - providing legal assistance - Held that:- A careful perusal of the appellants services to M/s. Transocean and M/s. Tide Water makes it clear that the appellants were advising the clients about various aspects relating to Management. The services are not executionery in nature and are clearly advisory in nature. The definition of ‘Management Consultant’ is so worded that the services performed by the appellants clearly fall within its scope and for that one only has to read the definition of ‘Management Consultant’. - Decided against the assessee. The appellants’ attempt to elucidate the meaning of Management Consultancy by reference to meaning of the word ‘Management’ is not really germane because the expression ‘Management Consultant’ and ‘Management Consultancy Service’ are clearly defined in the Finance Act 1994 itself and therefore one doesn’t have to, indeed one cannot, look beyond the statutory definition for the purpose of classification in this case. Regarding the appellants contention that the said services would be appropriately covered in the category of support services of business or commerce, or Business Consultancy Service, the same is not tenable because as per the definition of support service for business or commerce, the activities covered thereunder are essentially executionery in nature. - Decided against the assessee. Export of services or not - amounts paid by the ONGC to be treated as receipt in foreign currency or not - Held that:- The ratio of the judgment of Supreme Court in the case of JB Boda [1996 (10) TMI 70 - SUPREME Court] is that for treating such payments as payments received in foreign exchange, RBI’s nod should be there which is absent in the present case. It is pertinent to mention that once the RBI is taken in the loop, such transactions will not go unnoticed for the purpose of the relevant data bases of Indias international trade and foreign exchange transactions and will also not remain under the radar of the laws relating thereto. Thus, the impugned payments made by ONGC to the appellants do not merit to be treated as payments received in foreign exchange. - However benefit of export extended where actual foreign exchange received by the assessee. - Decided partly in favor of the assessee. Nature of services provided under the sales representative agreements to Helicopter Asia(PTE) - Held that:- As is evident from the ‘sales representative agreements’ the appellants role includes promotion of the services recipients’ goods/services and is thus clearly different from that of a commission agent. - Their claim for exemption under Notification No. 13/2003-ST on the ground of being commission agent is obviously untenable. - Decided against the assessee. Extended period of limitation - Held that:- Mere presumption of non-taxability can never be equated to ‘reasonable belief’ in that regard. Thus, the conclusion is inescapable that they deliberately did not take registration and pay the impugned service tax with a view to escaping the liability and when caught, pretended to be having reasonable belief about the non-taxability. Thus invocability of extended period and mandatory penalty is unexceptionable. - Decided against the assessee.
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