eShakti.com Pvt. Ltd. Vs Commissioner of GST and Central Excise (CESTAT Chennai)
In eShakti.com Pvt. Ltd. Vs Commissioner of GST and Central Excise, CESTAT Chennai allowed appeals filed against Orders-in-Appeal dated 16.04.2021, which had set aside refund sanctions and upheld rejection of refund claims under Notification No. 41/2012-ST. The Tribunal set aside the impugned orders and remanded the matter for limited verification of documents and nexus with exports.
The appellant, engaged in manufacture and export of ready-made garments, filed five refund claims for service tax paid on input services used for export during January 2014 to March 2015. The claims were initially filed under Notification No. 27/2012-CE instead of Notification No. 41/2012-ST due to a clerical error. After earlier rejection and appeal, the Tribunal remanded the matter in 2023 for fresh consideration under Notification 41/2012-ST. Upon remand, the Assistant Commissioner partly sanctioned and partly rejected the claims. The Commissioner (Appeals) affirmed rejections and also set aside sanctioned portions on Revenue’s appeal.
The rejections were based on two grounds: (i) certain input services such as courier, renting, security, telephony, professional/IT, maintenance, C&F etc. were held not to be “specified services” as they were not used beyond the place of removal; and (ii) portions of claims were treated as time-barred or pertaining to different quarters.
