𝗖𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗵𝗶 𝗥𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗢𝗰𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 📢 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗱: "Ocean freight is not a service, and profit earned from such transactions cannot be considered consideration for service, making it not liable to service tax."

🔍 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀: 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆: M/s. Balmer Lawrie & Co. Ltd. 𝗜𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲: Whether service tax is payable on ocean freight and related charges? 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆: The appellant transported cargo for Indian customers, dividing bills into freight, origin charges, destination charges, and service tax but paid service tax only on destination charges. The department demanded service tax on freight and origin charges.

⚖️ 𝗝𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: The Tribunal ruled that ocean freight is a business activity, not a service, and profits from space trading are not taxable under Section 65(19) of the Finance Act, 1994. The department's appeal was dismissed, and the appellant's appeal was allowed.

📜 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: M/s. Balmer Lawrie & Co. Ltd. vs. The Commissioner of Service Tax 𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗧𝗔𝗫 𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗟 𝗡𝗢. 52168 of 2016 𝗢𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: 01 May 2023 📜 This ruling reinforces that ocean freight and profits earned from space trading are not subject to service tax.