Naresh Kumar & Co. Vs Commissioner (Calcutta High Court)
Calcutta High Court held that Bending and Bundling services cannot be claimed under the heading Clearing and Forwarding Services. Accordingly, demand of service tax under tax bracket of Clearing and Forwarding services to that extent quashed.
Facts- The present petition is preferred by the petitioner challenging order dated 29.05.2008 passed by Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal. By the said judgment dated May 29, 2008, the Tribunal has partially upheld the order of the first authority that the appellant has provided ‘Clearing and Forwarding’ services to the Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO) and Tata Ryerson Limited (TRL) [the said two companies], between the years September 1999 to March 2004. The Ld. Tribunal, however, remanded the issue of limitation, back to the first authority, in respect of the claim of service tax and penalty imposed for not paying service tax.
Conclusion- A clearing and forwarding agent is therefore an entity who receives and dispatches goods on behalf of the principal. In the process of receipt and dispatch of the said goods, a Clearing and Forwarding agent may need to store the goods. For that purpose, a clearing and forwarding agent may need to have a warehouse. A clearing and forwarding agent has to also arrange for the transportation of the said goods. The appellant has to bear the transportation charges for forwarding the goods to the destination. The appellant thus fulfils all the criteria adverted to in the decision in Coal Handlers.
