07 May 2013
We are a small Co. in the Import-Export business. I have two questions
1) Recently we imported some goods for rexport. The goods were imported ex-wroks basis. Meaning, we had to pay the handling charges ex-works and freight to India. We appointed an agent in Europe who provided us the service. They collected the cargo ex-wroks and arranged to ship it to us. Are we liable to pay Service Tax on this?
2) Once in a while we buy from Indonesia and ship directly to Europe. - Our purchases are on FOB basis so we remit money separately for our purchase to the manufacturer and to the shipping agent for the freight. Are we liable to pay service tax on the freight amount?
21 June 2013
In both the cases you are not liable for any service tax as you have neither rendered nor received any services in India. All the transactions are outside India and therefore, the Service Tax Act is not applicable and you are not liable for any service tax on these transactions.