Airbnb Payments India Private Limited Vs Commissioner of Central Excise & Service Tax (CESTAT Chandigarh)
The appeals arose from refund claims filed by the appellant for unutilized CENVAT credit for the periods October 2016 to December 2016 amounting to ₹53,97,035 and January 2017 to March 2017 amounting to ₹31,47,583. The Original Authority initially allowed both refund claims. The Revenue challenged these orders before the Commissioner (Appeals), contending that refund of ₹26,25,042 in one case and the entire refund in the other case had been wrongly granted. The Commissioner (Appeals), by order dated 21.04.2020, remanded both matters to the adjudicating authority with directions to examine whether the appellant acted as an intermediary between Airbnb Ireland and its customers. During remand proceedings, the adjudicating authority rejected the refund claim for January 2017 to March 2017 on the ground that the appellant was an intermediary, while no order was passed regarding the October–December 2016 refund. The Commissioner (Appeals) upheld the rejection, resulting in the first appeal before the Tribunal.
Separately, the Department issued a show cause notice dated 21.10.2021 proposing recovery of ₹57,72,625, representing the refunds allegedly erroneously sanctioned, along with recovery of ₹2,04,15,167 as service tax on the output services rendered by the appellant. The Commissioner confirmed the proposals together with interest and penalties by order dated 15.03.2022, leading to the second appeal.
