𝗖𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧 𝗛𝘆𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗮𝗱 𝗥𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝘅 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗖𝗠 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘀 📢 The Tribunal held: "Expenses incurred for services like Provident Fund consultancy, ROC filing, and RTA charges, not received from an advocate or firm of advocates, do not attract service tax under Reverse Charge Mechanism (RCM)."

🔍 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀: 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆: Vainavi Industries Ltd. 𝗜𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲: Whether the appellant is liable for service tax on the disputed services and under RCM for consultancy charges?

𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆: The appellant provides “Online Information and Database Access Service” (OLIDAR) and works contracts for designing and installing networks. Service tax discrepancies were alleged due to missed filings and irregular CENVAT credit.

⚖️ 𝗝𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: The Tribunal ruled: CENVAT credit availed was proper, and no service tax was due on OLIDAR services. Consultancy expenses did not attract service tax under RCM as they were not received from advocates. The appeal was allowed, and the demand was set aside.

𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: Vainavi Industries Ltd vs. Commissioner of Central Tax Secunderabad – GST 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝘅 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗡𝗼. 30209 of 2018 𝗢𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: 14 December 2023 📜 This ruling clarifies that consultancy expenses not received from advocates are exempt from service tax under RCM.