Supreme Court Upholds Service Tax on Export Cargo Handling by Airports Authority of India

The Supreme Court has dismissed the Airports Authority of India’s (AAI) appeal challenging the service tax levy on export cargo handling.

A bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and Prasanna B. Varale held that while export cargo is excluded from the definition of “cargo handling service” under Section 65(23), it is still taxable under Section 65(105)(zzm) read with Section 66 of the Finance Act, 1994, effective from September 10, 2004.

The Court ruled that all services provided by AAI qualify as taxable services and rejected AAI’s reliance on departmental circulars.

The appeal was dismissed.

[Airports Authority of India v. Commissioner of Service Tax]