Service tax can't be imposed in J&K, says tribunal of pre-GST levy

A tribunal has rejected indirect tax authorities’ demand to levy service tax for goods transported to Jammu and Kashmir on the reverse charge mechanism. 

The case was from the earlier service tax regime,  prior to rollout of the current goods and services tax (GST). Experts say such a dispute would not arise in the GST regime. 

A company supplying petroleum products had got a notice for services given by a goods transport agency in J&K between April 2011 and September 2014. The company contended that service tax, imposed since 1994, excluded the state of J&K; hence, no such levy was