𝗖𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧 𝗔𝗵𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗮𝗱 𝗥𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝘅 𝗟𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘀 📢 The Tribunal held: "Amounts collected by the Gujarat Maritime Board as a statutory levy are exempt from service tax, and no service tax liability arises on these charges."

🔍 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀: 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆: Gujarat Maritime Board, a governmental body of the State of Gujarat. 𝗜𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲: Is service tax applicable on plot development charges collected as a statutory levy? 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆: Collected amounts from ship breakers at Alang under "user development fee" for plot allotments.

⚖️ 𝗝𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: The Tribunal ruled that fees collected by the Gujarat Maritime Board and directed to the State’s Consolidated Treasury Fund are statutory levies, exempt from service tax. Additionally, the 2013 show cause notice was time-barred due to prior disclosure by the Board in 2009. The appeal was allowed, confirming no tax liability.

𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: Gujarat Maritime Board vs. C.C.E. & S.T.-BHAVNAGAR 𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗧𝗔𝗫 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗡𝗼. 10722 of 2017 𝗢𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: 22 September 2023 📜 This ruling clarifies that state-collected statutory levies are not subject to service tax, especially when clearly disclosed to tax authorities.