Ashish Oberoi v. Commr. of Central Tax

FINANCE ACT, 1994

--Refund --Construction of residential house having more than 12 units Eligibility of ----Where refund was rejected on the ground of common facilities like park and roads but in view of the Relinquishment Deed produced on record, these common facilities like parks and roads have been relinquished to the Government and hence, the same was not the common properties of the owner, therefore assessee was entitled for refund of service tax --Assessees filed an application claiming refund being the amount paid as Service Tax during for the purchase of an independent Villa. The refund claim was filed as per the exemption provided under S.No. 14 of Notification No. 25/2012-ST, dated 20-6-2012. Subsequently, a SCN was issued proposing to deny the refund claim on the ground that exemption notification was not applicable. Commissioner rejected the refund claim on the ground that the present project consisting of more than 12 Villas in a composite premise and it has common area having common facilities such as parks, roads, parking space, etc., and hence, it was not a single residential unit. Held: There was a separate agreement entered between assessee and the contractor for construction of the individual house for which separate approval was sanctioned. Further, the definition of 'residential complex' was not applicable in the present case because all the conditions which are required to be fulfilled for a complex to be residential complex were not fulfilled in the present case. The ground for rejection was that there were common facilities like park and roads but in view of the Relinquishment Deed produced on record, these common facilities like parks and roads have been relinquished to the Government and hence, the same was not the common properties of the owner. Thus, assessee was entitled for refund.