Commissioner of GST & Central Excise Vs R.R. Thulasi Builders (I) Pvt. Ltd. (CESTAT Chennai)
The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Chennai dismissed the Revenue’s appeal challenging the order of the Adjudicating Authority, which had dropped the demand of service tax relating to works contract services provided for construction of Periyar Maniammai University and Periyar Teacher Training Institute. The dispute before the Tribunal was confined to whether these institutions should be treated as private educational institutions and whether the construction services rendered to them were liable to service tax.
The respondent, a registered provider of works contract services, had not discharged service tax on construction services rendered to educational institutions for the period from 1 October 2008 to 30 June 2012, claiming exemption based on Board Circular No. 80/10/2004-ST. Following an enquiry, a show cause notice was issued demanding service tax, interest, and penalties. The Adjudicating Authority held that construction services provided to private educational institutions were taxable, while construction services rendered to Government educational institutions were not, confirming part of the demand and dropping service tax of Rs.1,48,36,578 relating to Periyar Maniammai University and Periyar Teacher Training Institute. The Revenue appealed against the relief granted for these two institutions.
