Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Excise and Customs
Tax Research Unit
Circular No. 145/14/ 2011 – ST
North Block, New Delhi
19th August, 2011
To
Chief Commissioners of Central Excise and Service Tax (All),
Director General (Service Tax),
Director General (Central Excise Intelligence),
Director General (Audit),
Commissioners of Service Tax (All),
Commissioners of Central Excise and Service Tax (All).
Madam/Sir,
Subject: - Chambers of Commerce- Service tax on fee charged for issuance of
Country of Origin Certificate (COOC)- regarding.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Service tax paid on ‘technical inspection and certification’ of export goods
is eligible for refund under
Notification 17/2009-ST dated 7th July, 2009.
- Trade Notice/Public Notice may be issued to the field formations accordingly.
- Please acknowledge the receipt of this circular. Hindi version to follow.
(Samar Nanda)
Under Secretary, TRU
F.No.332/11/2011-TRU