𝗖𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧 𝗔𝗵𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗮𝗱 𝗥𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁 𝗥𝗼𝘆𝗮𝗹𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝘅 𝗟𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 📢 The Tribunal held: "Water front royalty collected as per the Maritime Board Act, 1981, on behalf of the State of Gujarat is a statutory levy, not a service, and therefore is not subject to service tax."

🔍 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀: 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆: State Charges Gog Jafrabad Port 𝗜𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲: Whether service tax is applicable on water front royalty for the period from 2006-07 to 2009-10? 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆: The appellant paid service tax on water front royalty charges but was alleged by the department to have not paid service tax for the period 2006-07 to 2009-10.

⚖️ 𝗝𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: The Tribunal ruled that water front royalty collected by the Maritime Board is a statutory levy under Section 22A of the Maritime Board Act, 1981, per relevant circulars. As the appellant merely facilitates port operations without providing direct services, service tax does not apply. The appeal was allowed.

𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: State Charges Gog Jafrabad Port vs. C.C.E. & S.T.-Bhavnagar 𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗧𝗔𝗫 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗡𝗼. 11110 of 2013-DB 𝗢𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: 06 November 2023 📜 This ruling confirms that water front royalty collected under statutory authority is not liable to service tax.