Seeks to supersede Notification No. 17/2009 - Service Tax, dated the 7th July, 2009 thereby exempting certain taxable services

Last updated: 03 January 2012

Notice Date : 30 December 2011

[TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE GAZZETE OF INDIA, EXTRAORDINARY, PART II, SECTION 3, SUB-SECTION (i)]

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

Department of Revenue

New Delhi, the 30^th December, 2011

Notification No. 52/2011-Service Tax

G.S.R. (E).- In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 93 of the Finance Act, 1994 (32 of 1994) (hereinafter referred to as the said Act) and in supersession of the Government of India in the Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue) notification 17/2009 - Service Tax, dated the 7th July, 2009, published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, part II, section 3, subsection (i) vide number G.S.R. 489(E), dated the 7th July, 2009, except as respects things done or omitted to be done before such supersession, the Central Government, on being satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest so to do, hereby exempts the taxable services specified in column (3) of the Table below (hereinafter referred to as specified services) falling under sub-clauses of clause (105) of section 65 of the said Act, received by an exporter of goods (hereinafter referred to as the exporter) and used for export of goods (hereinafter referred to as said goods), from the whole of the service tax leviable thereon under section 66 and section 66A of the said Act, subject to the specified conditions:

Provided that–

(a) the exemption shall be provided by way of refund of service tax paid on the specified services used for export of the said goods;

(b) the exemption shall be claimed either on the basis of rates specified in the Schedule of rates annexed to this notification(hereinafter referred to as the Schedule), as per the procedure specified in paragraph 2 or on the basis of documents, as per the procedure specified in paragraph 3;

(c) no CENVAT credit of service tax paid on the specified services used for export of the said goods has been taken under the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004;

(d) the exemption shall not be claimed by a Unit or Developer of a Special Economic Zone;

(2) the exemption shall be given effect to in the following manner, namely:-

(a) manufacturer-exporter, who is registered as an assessee under the Central Excise Act, 1944 (1 of 1944) or the rules made thereunder shall register his central excise registration number and bank account number with the customs;

(b) exporter who is not so registered under the provisions referred to in clause (a), shall register his service tax code number and bank account number with the customs;

(c) service tax code number referred to in clause (b), shall be obtained by filing a declaration in Form A-2 to the Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise or the Deputy Commissioner of Central Excise, as the case may be, having jurisdiction over the registered office or the head office, as the case may be, of such exporter;

(d) the exporter shall make a declaration in the electronic shipping bill or bill of export, as the case may be, while presenting the same to the proper officer of customs, to the effect that—

(i) the refund of service tax paid on the specified services is claimed as a percentage of the declared FOB value of the said goods, on the basis of rate specified in the Schedule;

(ii) no further refund shall be claimed in respect of the specified services, under procedure specified in paragraph 3 or in any other manner, including on the ground that the refund obtained is less than the service tax paid on the specified services;

(e) service tax paid on the specified services eligible as refund under this exemption, shall be calculated by applying the rate specified for goods of a class or description, in the Schedule, as a percentage of the FOB value of the said goods;

(f) amount so calculated as refund shall be deposited in the bank account of the exporter;

(g) shipping bill or bill of export on which refund has been claimed on the basis of rate specified in the Schedule, by way of procedure specified in this paragraph, is not eligible for refund claim on the basis of documents, specified in paragraph 3;

(h) where the refund involved in a shipping bill or bill of export is less than rupees fifty, the same shall not be allowed;

(3) the exemption shall be given effect to in the following manner, namely:-

(a) the exporter claiming the exemption has actually paid the service tax on the specified service used for export of the said goods;

(b) the person liable to pay service tax under section 68 of the said Act on the specified service provided to the exporter and used for export of the said goods shall not be eligible to claim exemption for the specified service;

(c) exemption by way of refund claimed by following the procedure specified in this paragraph shall be subject to the conditions specified against the specified service in column (4) of the said Table;

(d) the manufacturer-exporter, who is registered as an assessee under the Central Excise Act, 1944 (1 of 1944) or the rules made thereunder, shall file a claim for refund of service tax paid on the specified service to the Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise or the Deputy Commissioner of Central Excise, as the case may be, having jurisdiction over the factory of manufacture in Form A-1;

(e) the exporter who is not so registered under the provisions referred to in clause (d), shall before filing a claim for refund of service tax, file a declaration in Form A-2, seeking allotment of service tax code, to the Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise or the Deputy Commissioner of Central Excise, as the case may be, having jurisdiction over the registered office or the head office, as the case may be, of such exporter;

(f) the Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise or the Deputy Commissioner of Central Excise, as the case may be, shall, after due verification, allot a service tax code number to the exporter referred to in clause (e), within seven days from the date of receipt of the said Form A-2;

(g) on obtaining the service tax code, exporter referred to in clause (e), shall file the claim for refund of service tax to the Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise or the Deputy Commissioner of Central Excise, as the case may be, having jurisdiction over the registered office or the head office, as the case may be, in Form A-1;

(h) the claim for refund shall be filed within one year from the date of export of the said goods.

Explanation.- For the purposes of this clause the date of export shall be the date on which the proper officer of Customs makes an order permitting clearance and loading of the said goods for exportation under section 51 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962);

(i) where the refund involved in a claim is less than rupees five hundred, the same shall not be allowed;

(j) where the total amount of refund sought under a claim is upto 0.25% of the total FOB value of export goods and the exporter is registered with the Export Promotion Council sponsored by Ministry of Commerce or Ministry of Textiles, Form A-1 shall be submitted along with relevant invoice, bill or challan, or any other document including documents specified in column (4) of the said Table for each taxable service, in original, issued in the name of the exporter, evidencing payment for the specified service used for export of the said goods and the service tax payable, certified in the manner specified in sub-clauses (A) and (B);

(A) if the exporter is a proprietorship concern or partnership firm, the documents enclosed with the claim shall be self-certified by the exporter and if the exporter is a limited company, the documents enclosed with the claim shall be certified by the person authorised by the Board of Directors;

(B) the documents enclosed with the claim shall also contain a certificate from the exporter or the person authorised by the Board of Directors, to the effect that specified service to which the document pertains has been received, the service tax payable thereon has been paid and the specified service has been used for export of the said goods under the shipping bill number;

(k) where the total amount of refund sought under a claim is more than 0.25% of the total FOB value of export goods, the procedure specified in clause (j) above shall stand modified to the extent that the certification prescribed thereon, in sub-clauses (A) and (B) shall be made by the Chartered Accountant who audits the annual accounts of the exporter for the purposes of the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956) or the Income Tax Act, 1961(43 of 1961), as the case may be;

(l) the Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise or the Deputy Commissioner of Central Excise, as the case may be, shall, after satisfying himself,-

(i) that the service tax refund claim filed in Form A-1 is complete in every respect;

(ii) that the specified documents have been enclosed after due certification;

(iii) that refund has not been already received on the shipping bills or bills of export on the basis of procedure prescribed in paragraph 2;and

(iv) that the refund claimed is arithmetically accurate, refund the service tax paid on the specified service within a period of one month from the receipt of said claim:

Provided that where the Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise or the Deputy Commissioner of Central Excise, as the case may be, has reason to believe that the claim, or the enclosed documents are not in order or that there is a reason to deny such refund, he may, after recording the reasons in writing, take action, in accordance with the provisions of the said Act and the rules made thereunder;

(4) Where any refund of service tax paid on specified service utilized for export of said goods has been allowed to an exporter but the sale proceeds in respect of said goods are not received by or on behalf of the exporter, in India, within the period allowed by the Reserve Bank of India under section 8 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (42 of 1999), including any extension of such period, such refund shall be deemed never to have been allowed and recovered under the provisions of the said Act and the rules made thereunder, as if it is a recovery of service tax erroneously refunded;

(5) This notification shall come into effect on the 3rd day of January, 2012.

Table

Sl.No.	Classification under sub–clauses of clause (105) of section 65 of the said Act	Taxable Services (referred to as ‘specified services’)	Conditions
(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)
1.	(d)	Service provided to an exporter by an insurer, including a reinsurer carrying on general insurance business in relation to insurance of said goods.	Exporter shall submit document issued by the insurer, including re-insurer, for payment of insurance premium and the document shall be specific to export goods and shall be in the name of the exporter.
2.	(zn)	Service provided by a port or any person authorised by the port in respect of the export of said goods.
3.	(zzh)	Service provided by a technical testing and analysis agency, in relation to technical testing and analysis of said goods.
4.	(zzi)	Service provided by a technical inspection and certification agency in relation to inspection and certification of export goods.
5.	(zzl)	Service provided by other port or any person authorised by that port in respect for export of said goods.
6.	(zzp)	(i) Service provided for transport of said goods from the inland container depot to the port of export; (ii) Service provided to an exporter in relation to transport of export goods directly from the place of removal, to inland container depot or port or airport, as the case may be, from where the goods are exported.	(i) exporter shall certify that the benefit of exemption provided vide notification number 18/2009-S.T. has not been claimed; and (ii) details, those are specified in the invoice of exporter relating to export goods, are specifically mentioned in the lorry receipt or consignment note or transporters’ invoice and the corresponding shipping bill; (iii) invoice issued by the exporter in relation to export goods shall indicate the inland container depot or port or airport from where the goods are exported.
7.	(zzzp)	(i) Service provided for transport of said goods from the inland container depot to the port ofexport, and (ii) services provided to an exporter in relation to transport of export goods directly from the place of removal to inland container depot or port or airport, as the case may be, from where the goods are exported.
8.	(zzzd)	Specialized cleaning services namely disinfecting,exterminating, sterilizing or fumigating of containers used for export of said goods provided to an exporter.
9.	(zza)	Service provided for storage and warehousing of said goods.
10.	(f)	Service provided by a courier agency to an exporter in relation to transportation of time sensitive documents, goods or articles relating to export, to a destination outside India.	(i) The receipt issued by the courier agency shall specify the importer exporter code (IEC) number of the exporter, export invoice number, nature of courier, destination of the courier including name and address of the recipient of the courier; and (ii) exporter produces documents relating to the use of courier service to export goods.
11.	(h)	Service provided by a custom house agent in relation to export goods exported by the exporter.	Exporter shall produce,- (i) invoice issued by custom house agent for providing services specified in column (3) specifying,- (a) number and date of shipping bill; (b) number and date of the invoice issued by the exporter relating to export goods; (c) details of all the charges, whether or not reimbursable, collected by the custom house agent from the exporter in relation to export goods; (ii) details of other taxable services provided by the said custom house agent and received by the exporter, whether or not relatable to export goods.
12.	(zm)	(i) Service provided in relation to collection of export bills; (ii) Service provided in relation to export letters of credit such as advising commission, advising amendment, confirmation charges; (iii) Service of purchase or sale of foreign currency, including money changing provided to an exporter in relation to export goods.
13.	(zzk)	Service of purchase or sale of foreign currency including money changing provided to an exporter in relation to export goods.
14.	(zzzzj)	Service of supply of tangible goods for use, without transferring right of possession and effective control of tangible goods, provided to an exporter in relation to goods exported by the exporter.
15.	(j)	Service provided by a clearing and forwarding agent in relation to export goods exported by the exporter.	Exporter shall produce,- (i) invoice issued by clearing and forwarding agent for providing services specified in column (3) specifying,- (a) number and date of shipping bill; (b) description of export goods; (c) number and date of the invoice issued by the exporter relating to export goods; (d) details of all the charges, whether or not reimbursable, collected by the clearing and forwarding agent from the exporter in relation to export goods; (ii) details of other taxable services provided by the said clearing and forwarding agent and received by the exporter, whether or not relatable to export goods.
16.	classified under any sub-clause of clause (105) of section 65.	Payment of service tax paid on services commonly known as terminal handling charges in relation to export goods exported by the exporter
17.	(zzzzl)	Service provided for transport of export goods through national waterway, inland water and coastal shipping.	(i) The exporter shall- (a) produce the Bill of Lading or a Consignment Note or a similar document by whatever name called, issued by name; (b) produce evidence to the effect that the said transport is provided for export of said goods.
18.	(zzm)	Service provided by airports authority or any other person in any airport in respect of the export of said goods.

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Form A – 1

Application for claiming refund of service tax paid on specified services used for export of the said goods, under Notification No.___ / 20__-ST

To,

The Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise

Sir,

I/We claim refund of Rs........... (Rupees in words), under Notification No.____ dated______ , in respect of service tax paid on specified services used for export of goods.

1. Name of the exporter:

2. Membership number of the Export Council:

3. Name of the Export Council:

4. Address of the registered / head office of exporter:

5. Telephone Number and e-mail ID of the exporter:

6. Division ……… Commissionerate ……………

7. Central Excise Registration Number (for manufacturer exporter) / Service Tax Code Number (for exporters other than manufacturer exporter)

8. Import Export Code Number…………..

9. Details of Bank Account (Name of Bank, branch address and account number)

10. Details of the refund claim (separately for each Shipping Bill):

(Rupees in thousands)

S.

No.