𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝘅 – 𝗖𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗵𝗶: 𝗢𝗰𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗔 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲; 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 – 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 📢 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗱: Ocean freight and profit from it are not subject to service tax.

🔍 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀: 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁: M/s. Balmer Lawrie & Co. Ltd. 𝗜𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲: Whether service tax is payable on ocean freight and other associated charges. 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆: The appellant faced a show-cause notice for unpaid service tax on ocean freight and origin charges, leading to appeals.

⚖️ 𝗝𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: The Tribunal ruled that ocean freight is a business transaction, not a service, and profit from it is not considered service consideration. Citing cases like M/s Tiger Logistics and M/s Greenwich Meridian, it affirmed that no service tax is payable on such transactions, as they are independent principal-to-principal dealings.

📜 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 establishes that ocean freight and related profit from such business activities are not subject to service tax, reinforcing previous decisions on similar issues.