Cell sites/ RF Antennas atop building terraces – Not excise but Service Tax!
DDT has received this piece of information from a Netizen.
Mushrooming Cell Sites/Base trans-receiver stations propelled the Central Excise department to book cases against the cellular service providers contending that erecting a Cell site etc. amounts to manufacture under CEA '44 . No doubt, after all those notices & adjudications, the result came a cropper as the Tribunal WZB in the case of BPL Mobile Communication 2005-TIOL-923-CESTAT-Mum held that no “excisable” activity was taking place on the “terraces”. The appeal of the Department, 87 of 2007 before the Bombay High Court also came to be called as - Call lost!
So, every time the Central Excise officer sees a BTS/Cell site, he gets angry. But probably he has hope in the form of Service Tax.
These cell phone companies hire/lease space on the roof tops and terraces of residential and commercial buildings for installation of these cell sites and there are also instances of BPOs & some companies paying handsome amounts for installation of the Radio Frequency ( RF ) antennas on these terraces . The long & short - both commercial property owners & residential societies are minting money.
Naturally, these commercial property owners and residential societies are in the process renting immovable properties for a consideration & that too, a good one.
It is, therefore, but natural that they pay Service Tax on these amounts charged, at least from 1 st June 2007. Luckily for the residential societies, they may stand excluded as per the exclusion contained in section 65(105 )( zzzz)] of the Finance Act, 1994.
Now, will we have Central Excise officers zipping up through the escalators & searching for these antennas & cell sites on the terraces once again?
DDT is not aware whether any Service Tax is being collected on the above service. Before the high profile Directorate takes a clue and issues bland instructions just like the one we reported in , it is requested that we receive a feedback!