Order Date – 15 February 2023

Parties: M/s. Aniksha Productions Private Limited Vs The Commissioner of Service Tax

Facts – 

• The Appellant, M/s. Aniksha Productions Private Limited, had entered into agreements with television channels who allotted the time slot to the appellant for telecasting the tele-serials /programmes on chargeable basis.
• The commercial time for advertisement, “Free Commercial Time” – FCT, was sold by the appellant to advertising agencies under separate agreements, who would, in turn, sell the FCT to various customers for advertising their products / services.
• It was alleged that the appellant had excluded the fixed cost collected from the advertising agency ie. slot fee payable to the television channels for telecasting the programme.

Issue –

• Whether Service Tax on the fixed cost component is correctly demanded?

Order –

• The Tribunal held that neither in the Show Cause Notice nor even in the impugned Order-in-Original any allegation as to the Service Tax not levied or not paid or short-levied or short-paid or erroneously refunded can be noticed.
• The appellant has claimed that the advertising agency has paid the applicable Service Tax on the impugned service, which has not been disputed either by the advertising agency or even by the Revenue and this is precisely the reason for the Revenue not to urge that the Service Tax was not paid, but for only quoting Section 73(1).
• The Adjudicating Authority himself has acknowledged that the Service Tax having been paid by the advertising agency, the appellant could enjoy the facility of CENVAT Credit. This, according to us, clearly tantamounts to the acceptance of the fact of payment of tax and the fact that the appellant is eligible to avail the CENVAT Credit sufficiently establishes that it is a revenue neutral situation.
• Hence the appeal is allowed.