No Service Tax Liability on Construction of Houses under JNNURM and Construction for Gujarat State Police Housing Corporation Ltd: CESTAT [Read Order]

The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Ahmedabad Bench, has recently, in an appeal filed before it, held that there is no service tax liability on the construction of houses under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and Construction for Gujarat State Police housing corporation Ltd.

The aforesaid observation was made by the Ahmedabad CESTAT, when an appeal was preferred before it by the appellant D H Patel, with the issue involved in the appeal being the question as to whether the construction of complex service provided to Surat Municipal Corporation for construction of houses under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and construction of housing for Gujarat State Police Housing Corporation Ltd, is liable to service tax under Construction of Residential Complex Service.

With Shri S J Vyas, the counsel appearing on behalf of the appellant, relying upon a series of judicial decisions and having submitted that the issue was no more under dispute as the same has already been decided in various cases, all of whose decisions points in favour of the appellant, Shri Ghanasyam Soni, the Additional Commissioner, appearing on behalf of the revenue, reiterated the finding of the impugned order.

Hearing the opposing contentions of both the sides and perusing the materials available on record, the CESTAT observed:

“We have carefully considered the submissions made by both the sides and perused the records. We find that this identical issue has come up in many cases before this tribunal and this tribunal is taking a consistent view that the Construction of Residential Complex under JNNURM Scheme and construction of residential housing for Gujarat State Police Housing Corporation Ltd. is not liable to service tax.”

“This issue is no longer res integra in the light of the judgments relied upon by the appellant. And accordingly, the impugned order is set aside. And the appeal is allowed”, the Coram of Ramesh Nair, the Judicial Member, and C L Mahar, the Technical Member, concluded.

To Read the full text of the Order CLICK HERE

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