Off late many assessees faced the wrath of the Department by way of Show Cause Notices, spot recoveries and personal penalties owing to the alleged failure to take reasonable care while taking Cenvat credit. If the default of duty or tax payment is necessitated either due to genuine reasons or conscious evasion, the assessees at the receiving end are subject to harassment and intimidation by imposing all penal provisions in the Act and Rules. Even now, undue hardship is caused to assessees during Audit and also while processing refund claims, especially of Service Tax, due to the insistence of the officials to produce proof of payment of tax by the manufacturer or service provider for allowing credit or for granting refund.
Issue (a) : Whether service tax of 4.944% (60% abatement) will apply to related charges such as reconfirmation fee, upgrade fee, date change, additional collection, etc., levied by airlines to passengers?
