Kamleshkumar K Kotecha Vs Commissioner of Central Excise & ST (CESTAT Ahmedabad)
CESTAT Ahmedabad held that co-owners are to be treated as independent service provider for calculating threshold limit of exemption under Notification Nos. 6/2005-ST dated 01.03.2005 and No. 8/2008-ST dated 01.03.2008.
Facts- The appellants are co-owner of a building situated at Jawahar Road, Rajkot. They had given the said immovable property on lease to Punjab National Bank. The total rent received for the period 2008-09 to 2012-13 jointly by them amounts to Rs. 53,49,086/- in aggregate.
A show cause notice came to be issued demanding service tax of Rs. 5,29,509/- payable on the aggregate amount of sum total of rent received by them in regard to the said co-owned property aggregating to Rs. 53,49,086/-. The said show cause notice was adjudicated by the Adjudicating Authority vide order-in-original dated 13.08.2014. Being aggrieved by the said order-in-original, the appeal filed before Commissioner (Appeals) came to be rejected therefore, the present appeal filed by both the co-owners of the property leased out to Punjab National Bank.
Conclusion- Held that there is no dispute that the immovable property is co-owned by both the appellants and the rent was received from Punjab National Bank (lessee) equally to both the co-owners. In this fact, both the co-owners are to be treated as independent service provider. Therefore, individually each appellant received rent for the financial year involved in the entire period of this case is much below the threshold limit of exemption under Notification Nos. 6/2005-ST dated 01.03.2005 and No. 8/2008-ST dated 01.03.2008, therefore service tax demand will not sustain.
