Fruit-based juices are not beverages: Tax panel

A tax tribunal has said all fruit flavoured juices would come under category of "fruit-based preparations" and not in beverages like Coke or Pepsi. Fruit-based preparation has to pay less tax in comparison to beverages.

The order was delivered by Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) on a petition by Godrej Foods for excluding its product 'Lipton TreeTop' from "fruit-based preparations".

The Godrej group firm had challenged an order of Commissioner of Central Excise, Indore, which had termed its product 'Lipton TreeTop' as a beverage and asked the company to pay excise duty.

"We are unable to find a distinction between fruit juice and fruit juices beverages as no such distinction has been spelt out in Central Excise Act," Justice R K Abichandani, President of the (CESTAT), said, while deciding on the issue that was sent back to it by Supreme Court in 2001.

CESTAT rejected the contentions of Excise department saying there was no criterion available in the Act to distinguish the products on the basis of their concentration.

"We, therefore, hold that the product manufactured by the appellants (Godrej) are fruit preparations," he said.

Lipton TreeTop was being commercially sold by Godrej Foods and includes water, sugar, fruit pulp, citric acid, sodium citrate and Vitamin C.

The tax officials had contended that such fruit-based preparations are covered under tariff heading 22.02 of Central Excise Act, which includes "natural or artificial mineral water and aerated water, containing added sugar or other sweetening matter or flavoured" for levying tax.