GTA SERVICE

If packing is only incidental to the transportation, the service will be classified as GTA.

The situation as describied by you was the point of dispute between the Service Tax Dept and the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC). The Department was of the openion that since the GTAs were providing vvarious intermediary and ancillary services such as loading/unloading, packing/unpacking, transshipment, temporary warehousing along with the trasnportaion of the goods in goods carriage by road under a composite contract, they would be eligible to avail abatement  of 75% only on the transporation part and other activities should be classified under cargo handling service and should not qualify for the abatement.

Howerver the matter was clarrified vide circular no 104/2008-ST

Mr. Roy is correct. The clarification issued dated 06.08.2008 is very wide and coveres a very wide field under GTA, provided these incidental services are provided by the goods transport operators only. It reads as (relevant portion),

"GTA provides a service in relation to transportation of goods by road which is a single composite service. GTA also issues consignment note. The composite service may include various intermediate and ancillary services provided in relation to the principal service of the road transport of goods. Such intermediate and ancillary services may include services like loading/unloading, packing/unpacking, transshipment, temporary warehousing etc., which are provided in the course of transportation by road. These services are not provided as independent activities but are the means for successful provision of the principal service, namely, the transportation of goods by road. The contention that a single composite service should not be broken into its components and classified as separate services is a well-accepted principle of classification. As clarified earlier vide F.No. 334/4/2006-TRU dated 28.2.2006 (para 3.2 and 3.3) and F. No. 334.1/2008-TRU dated 29.2.2008 (para 3.2 and 3.3),  a composite service, even if it consists of more than one service, should be treated as a single service based on the main or principal service and accordingly classified.   While taking a view, both the form and substance of the transaction are to be taken into account. The guiding principle is to identify the essential features of the transaction. The method of invoicing does not alter the single composite nature of the service and classification in such cases are based on essential character by applying the principle of classification enumerated in section 65 A. Thus, if any ancillary/intermediate service is provided in relation to transportation of goods, and the charges, if any, for such services are included in the invoice issued by the GTA, and not by any other person, such service would form part of GTA service and, therefore, the abatement of 75% would be available on it."

Even otherwise also based on essential nature of services, indivisible contract, rules of classification of services- the activity will fall in GTA only.