#Section 67 Finance Act

CESTAT rules that salaries paid by hotel owners to key managerial staff under a hotel operating agreement are not includible in the 'operator fee' for service tax valuation under Section 67 of the Finance Act. The decision clarifies that only amounts directly linked to the provision of taxable services can be taxed, protecting hotel owners from inflated tax liabilities.

CESTAT Chennai rules that ocean freight charges collected by multimodal transporters on a principal-to-principal basis between 2013-2015 are not includible in taxable value under the unamended Section 67 of the Finance Act. The ruling clarifies that reimbursable expenditures, when not billed to the end customer, escape service tax liability, offering relief to logistics service providers in pre-GST disputes.