Case Law Details
Shanmuga Construction Services Vs Commissioner of Service Tax (CESTAT Chennai)
CESTAT gone through the orders of the various CESTAT Benches which have been considered by the Hyderabad Bench of the CESTAT in M/s. Pragati Edifice Pvt. (supra), the relevant observation of which has been extracted hereinabove. CESTAT find that it has been categorically held that no Service Tax could be levied on construction of residential complexes prior to 01.07.2010 even when the service is rendered either as service simpliciter or as a works contract. Admittedly, the period of dispute, as noted by us in the first paragraph, is from October 2007 to April 2010 and hence, the above ruling is squarely applicable to the present case.
FULL TEXT OF THE CESTAT CHENNAI ORDER
This appeal is filed by the assessee against the Order-in-Original No. 08/2013 dated 20.05.2013 passed by the Commissioner of Central Excise, Chennai and the period of dispute is from October 2007 to April 2010.
2. The undisputed facts on record, as could be gathered from the impugned Order-in-Original, Show Cause Notice and the pleadings advanced during the course of hearing, are that the appellant, who is a developer, had entered into a joint development agreement for the construction of residential complexes consisting of 176 units / flats, for which it had engaged a contractor. The Revenue entertained a doubt that the above construction services undertook by the appellant were liable to Service Tax under ‘works contract’ service (‘WCS’ for short) and consequently, issued a Show Cause Notice dated 04.04.2011 proposing to demand the Service Tax, interest under Section 75 and penalties under Sections 76, 77 and 78 of the Finance Act, 1994, under WCS for the above period, and proposing to appropriate the payment made by them.
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