𝗖𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗵𝗶 𝗥𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝘅 𝗟𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀 📢 The Tribunal held: "The services provided by Export Inspection Agencies do not qualify as sovereign functions and are subject to service tax."

🔍 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀: 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆: M/s Export Inspection Agency, Delhi 𝗜𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲: Are the services provided by the appellant exempt from service tax as sovereign functions? 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆: The appellant, a certification authority under the Export Council, faced demands for service tax and penalties on fees collected from 2008-09 to November 2013.

⚖️ 𝗝𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: The Tribunal ruled that the agency's retained fees exclude it from sovereign functions. Services were classified as “Technical, Inspection and Certification,” making them taxable per the Supreme Court's Krishi Upaj Mandi Samiti ruling. The demand and interest were upheld, with penalties adjusted accordingly for different periods.

𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: M/s Export Inspection Agency, Delhi vs. Commissioner of Service Tax, Delhi-I 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝘅 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗡𝗼. 52279 of 2016 𝗢𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: 04 October 2023 📜 This ruling confirms that certification services provided by agencies not depositing fees to the Government Treasury are taxable.