Can any adjustment of tax liability be made by an assessee on his own, in cases when Service Tax has been paid in excess?
Yes. Where an assessee has paid to the credit of the Government in respect of a taxable service, which is not so provided by him, either wholly or partially for any reason, the assessee may adjust the excess Service Tax so paid by him (calculated on a pro-rata basis) against his Service Tax liability for the subsequent period, if the assessee has refunded the value of taxable service and the Service Tax thereon to the person from whom it was received (Rule 6(3) of the STR, 1994).
ii. Further, assesses having centralised registration who paid excess amount of Service Tax, on account of non-receipt of details regarding the receipt of gross amount for the services at his other premises or offices, may adjust such excess amount against the Service Tax liability for the subsequent period and furnish the details of such adjustment to the Jurisdictional Superintendent of Central Excise/ Service Tax within 15 days from the date of such adjustment (Rule 6(4A) of the STR, 1994).
iii. In all other cases of excess payment, refund claims have to be filed with the Department. The refund claims would be dealt as per the provisions of Section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944, which is made applicable to Service Tax under Section 83 of the Finance Act 1994.
iv. It is important to note that any amount of Service Tax paid in excess of the actual liability, is refundable, only if it is proved that the claimant of refund had already refunded such amount to the person from whom it was received or had not collected at all (Section 11 B of the Central Excise Act, 1944 which is applicable to Service Tax matters under Section 83 of the Act).
Comments: - Rule 6(4A) of Service Tax Rules 1994 as amended is silent regarding any reference to an assessee having centralized registration. Thus this adjustment in our opinion should also be possible for assessees not opting for centralized registration provided the conditions specified in Rule 6(4B) are satisfied. The adjustment would be subject to a maximum of rupees fifty thousand and should not arise from issues relating to interpretation of law, taxability, classification, valuation or applicability of exemption notification. In other words the scope for adjustment is quite narrow and arithmetical in nature.
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