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2015 (2) TMI 614 - AT - Service TaxDenial of refund claim - Notification No. 9/2009-ST dt. 3.3.2009 - Since the services were wholly consumed within the SEZ, the department has ordered recovery of the refund sanctioned by the adjudicating authority - Held that:- SEZ Act 2005, under Section 26(i) (e), provides that all services imported into the SEZ to carry on authorized operations in SEZ shall be exempted. Further Section 51 of this Act gives overriding effect over other Acts. This being the legal position, the condition of Notification No. 15/2009 that refund is only admissible to services which are not wholly consumed within the SEZ cannot nullify the overriding provisions of Section 51 of the SEZ Act. The law makes made different schemes, one for granting refund of tax paid on services exported into SEZ and, the other for granting outright exemption to services which are provided to be wholly consumed within the SEZ unit, the recipient is bound to get refund unless assessment at the end of service provider was re-opened and refund was given to the service providers. Notification no. 9/2009 exempts taxable service provided to SEZ units. Once refund is provided for under this Notification, the provisions of statute under Section 11(B) of the Central Excise Act as made applicable to the Finance Act, 1994 comes into play. Therefore, refund cannot be denied under the Act for procedural infraction of having paid the Service Tax which ought not to have been paid by the service provider. The matter already stands decided in the case of Intas Pharma Ltd. vs. Commissioner of Service Tax, Ahmedabad - [2013 (7) TMI 703 - CESTAT AHMEDABAD] - Decided in favour of assessee.
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