Certificate of
Origin Fee Attracts Service Tax, says CBEC
[Service Tax Notification No. 145 dated 19th August 2011]
Subject: Chambers of Commerce- Service tax on fee charged for issuance of
Country of Origin Certificate (COOC).
Board has received
representations seeking clarification as to whether service tax is leviable on
the fee charged by the Chambers of Commerce for issuance of COOC.
2. These representations have been examined.
Service provided by a Chamber of Commerce by way of issuance of COOC appears to
fall under two different headings, namely, ‘club or association service’
[Finance Act, 1994, section 65(105)(zzze)], or ‘technical inspection or
certification service’ [Finance Act, 1994, section 65(105)(zzi)]. It is well known
that in our country, Chambers of Commerce, Export Promotion Councils (EPC),
some Trade Associations have been authorised by the Government to issue COOC to
the exporters. General practice followed is that the exporter makes an
application to the Chamber or any authorised agency for issuance of COOC, in
the prescribed form, along with a copy of commercial invoice and other
documents and pays the prescribed fees. On the basis and verification of the
information provided in the application for COOC and the supporting documents
with reference to the goods sought to be exported, the Chamber or the
authorised agency issues a COOC.
3. The above activity carried out by the
Chambers, involving certification of the national character of the export
goods, squarely falls under ‘technical inspection or certification’, as defined
in section 65(108) of Finance Act, 1994. In certain cases, when COOC is issued
with reference to national character of the goods upon examination of the
origin of their composition, requirements of the definition provided in section
65(108) of Finance Act, 1994 is clearly fulfilled. A chamber or EPC or Trade
Association which issues COOC acts as a technical inspection and certification
agency, and issuance of COOC attracts service tax under ‘technical inspection
and certification agency’ service, which is a specific description when
compared to a general description like ‘club or association service’, by the
application of the principles of classification provided in section 65A of
Finance Act, 1994.
4. Service tax paid on ‘technical inspection and
certification’ of export goods is eligible for refund under Notification
17/2009-ST dated 7th July, 2009.
5. Trade Notice/Public Notice may be issued to
the field formations accordingly.
F.No.332/11/2011-TRU