Applicability of service tax on the margin of profit earned

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joginder (Querist)

01 August 2013 A Case Study:-
Mr.Gupta in Punjab, is a manufacturer of Stainless Steel Ingots.
Mr. Jain has a Plant in Gujarat manufacturing SS Coil.His Raw material is SS Ingots.
Mr. Hari an Iron & Steel Dealer registered to deal in Excisable goods is also in Punjab.
Mr. Hari contacts Mr. Jain that he will procure SS ingots on his behalf,for which he will charge Re 1/- per KG.
Mr. Hari knows Mr. Gupta & places orders for supply of SS Ingots to Mr. Jain.
Mr.Gupta takes E1 Form from Mr.Jain & C form from Mr. Gupta.
Mr.Gupta issues an Excise Invoice showing Mr.Jain as Consignee & Mr. Hari as Buyer. Mr. Jain on receipt of Duplicate copy avails Cenvat involved on the qty received. On receipt of Original copy, Mr. Hari issues a commercial invoice in the name of Mr. Jain adding pre-determined profit of Re 1/- per KG. No entries are made in RG23D.
The freight is either paid by the consignor or the consignee.
Querry:-
Is this merely an E1 / consignment sale.
Where the profit of margins of Mr Hari is already pre-decided on the basis of the qty. sold. Should not Mr Hari be considered
a commission agent under Business Auxillary Service(services of procurement of goods on behalf of the client which is an input for
them)and Service Tax should not be paid by
him on the margins earned on such transactions. Merely the fact that only the invoices and the money is routed through him and no CST/freight/any other costs is borne by this middleman, Why his margins can not be subjected to levy of Service Tax.

CA Suresh Jain

CA Suresh Jain (Expert)

02 August 2013 This is normal practice in trade to sell goods through the middle-man for more than one reasons. One of the important reason is to secure payment.

This is purely a trading for Mr. Hari and therefore, Service tax is not applicable at all.

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