Service
Received in SEZ for Authorised Operations Exempted under Refund
List of
Services to be Approved on Case by Case Basis
[Ref: Notification No. 12 / 2013-Service Tax dated 1 July 2013]
In exercise of the powers conferred by
sub-section (1) of section 93 of the Finance Act, 1994 (32 of 1994)
(hereinafter referred to as the said Act) read with sub-section 3 of section 95
of Finance (No.2), Act, 2004 (23 of 2004) and sub-section 3 of section 140 of
the Finance Act, 2007 (22 of 2007) and in supersession
of the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Finance
(Department of Revenue), No.
40/2012-Service Tax, dated the 20th June, 2012, published in the Gazette of
India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (i), vide number G.S.R.
482 (E), dated the 20th June, 2012, except as respects things done or omitted
to be done before such supersession, the Central Government, on being satisfied
that it is necessary in the public interest so to do, hereby exempts the
services on which service tax is leviable under
section 66B of the said Act, received by a unit located in a Special Economic
Zone (hereinafter referred to as SEZ Unit) or Developer of SEZ ( hereinafter
referred to as the Developer) and used for the authorised
operation from the whole of the service tax, education cess,
and secondary and higher education cess leviable thereon.
2. The exemption shall be provided by way of
refund of service tax paid on the specified services received by the SEZ Unit
or the Developer and used for the authorised
operations:
Provided that where the
specified services received by the SEZ Unit or the Developer are used
exclusively for the authorised operations, the person
liable to pay service tax has the option not to pay the service tax ab initio, subject to
the conditions and procedure as stated below.
3. This
exemption shall be given effect to in the following manner:
(I) The SEZ
Unit or the Developer shall get an approval by the Approval Committee of the
list of the services as are required for the authorised
operations (referred to as the ‘specified services’ elsewhere in the
notification) on which the SEZ Unit or Developer wish to claim exemption from
service tax.
(II) The ab-initio exemption on the specified
services received by the SEZ Unit or the Developer and used exclusively for the
authorised operation shall be allowed subject to the
following procedure and conditions, namely:-
(a) the SEZ Unit or the Developer shall furnish a declaration in
Form A-1, verified by the Specified Officer of the
SEZ, along with the list of specified services in terms of condition (I);
(b) on the basis of declaration made in Form A-1, an authorisation shall be issued by the jurisdictional Deputy
Commissioner of Central Excise or Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise, as
the case may be to the SEZ Unit or the Developer, in Form A-2;
(c) the SEZ Unit or the Developer shall provide a copy of said authorisation to the provider of specified services. On the
basis of the said authorisation, the service provider
shall provide the specified services to the SEZ Unit or the Developer without
payment of service tax;
(d) the SEZ Unit or the Developer shall furnish to the
jurisdictional Superintendent of Central Excise a quarterly statement, in Form
A-3, furnishing the details of specified services received by it without payment
of service tax;
(e) the SEZ Unit
or the Developer shall furnish an undertaking, in Form A-1, that in case the
specified services on which exemption has been claimed are not exclusively used
for authorised operation or were found not to have
been used exclusively for authorised operation, it
shall pay to the government an amount that is claimed by way of exemption from
service tax and cesses along with interest as
applicable on delayed payment of service tax under the provisions of the said
Act read with the rules made thereunder.
(III) The
refund of service tax on (i) the specified services that are not exclusively
used for authorised operation, or (ii) the specified
services on which ab-initio exemption is admissible but not
claimed, shall be allowed subject to the following procedure and conditions,
namely:-
(a) the service tax paid on the specified services that are
common to the authorised operation in an SEZ and the
operation in domestic tariff area [DTA unit(s)] shall be distributed amongst
the SEZ Unit or the Developer and the DTA unit (s) in the manner as prescribed
in rule 7 of the Cenvat Credit Rules. For the purpose
of distribution, the turnover of the SEZ Unit or the Developer shall be taken
as the turnover of authorised operation during the
relevant period.
(b) the SEZ Unit or the Developer shall be entitled to refund of
the service tax paid on (i) the specified services on which ab-initio exemption is admissible but not claimed, and (ii) the
amount distributed to it in terms of clause (a).
(c) the SEZ Unit or Developer
who is registered as an assessee under the Central
Excise Act, 1944 (1 of 1944) or the rules made thereunder, or the said Act or
the rules made thereunder, shall file the claim for refund to the
jurisdictional Deputy Commissioner of Central Excise or Assistant Commissioner
of Central Excise, the as the case may be, in Form A-4;
(d) the amount indicated in the invoice, bill or, as the case may be, challan, on the basis of which this refund is being
claimed, including the service tax payable thereon shall have been paid to the
person liable to pay the service tax thereon, or as the case may be, the amount
of service tax payable under reverse charge shall have been paid under the
provisions of the said Act;
(e) the
claim for refund shall be filed
within one year from the end of the month in which actual payment of service
tax was made by such Developer or SEZ Unit to the registered service provider
or such extended period as the Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise or the
Deputy Commissioner of Central Excise, as the case may be, shall permit;
(f) the SEZ Unit or the Developer shall submit only one claim of
refund under this notification for every quarter:
Explanation.- For the
purposes of this notification “quarter” means a period of three consecutive
months with the first quarter beginning from 1st April of every year, second
quarter from 1st July, third
quarter from 1st October and fourth quarter from 1st January of every year.
(g) the SEZ Unit or the Developer who is not so registered
under the provisions referred to in clause (c), shall, before filing a claim
for refund under this notification, make an application for registration under
rule 4 of the Service Tax Rules, 1994.
(h) if there are more than one SEZ Unit registered under a
common service tax registration, a common refund may be filed at the option of
the assessee.
(IV) The
SEZ Unit or Developer, who intends to avail exemption or refund under this
notification, shall maintain proper account of receipt and use of the specified
services, on which exemption or refund is claimed, for authorised
operations in the SEZ.
4. Where any sum of service tax paid on specified
services is erroneously refunded for any reason whatsoever, such service tax refunded
shall be recoverable under the provisions of the said Act and the rules made
there under, as if it is recovery of service tax erroneously refunded;
5. Notwithstanding anything contained in this notification, SEZ Unit or the Developer shall have the option not to avail of this exemption and instead take CENVAT credit on the specified services in accordance with the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004.
6. Words and
expressions used in this notification and defined in the Special Economic Zones
Act, 2005 (28 of 2005) or the rules made thereunder, or the said Act, or the
rules made there under shall apply, so far as may be, in relation to refund of
service tax under this notification as they apply in relation to a SEZ.
7. This notification shall come into force on the date of
its publication in the Gazette of India
Click here for >> Form – A1 | Form – A2 | Form – A3 | Form – A4
[F.No. B1/6/ 2013-TRU]