9911796707
|
Home
Issues:
The appeal against the OIA No.62/2009/(STC)/LMR/Commr.(A)/Ahd., issued on dt.14.03.2009 by upholding the OIO No.STC/24/Joint Commr./07-08, dt.14.11.2007. Penalties Waiver under Section 80 of the Finance Act, 1994: The appellant argued that there was a reasonable cause for not discharging the service tax as clients did not pay in time, hence penalties should not be imposed u/s Section 80 of the Finance Act, 1994. However, the respondent contended that the appellant, registered since 1998, did not file any ST-3 return from April 2000 to March 2006 despite collecting service tax from clients. The respondent highlighted that the service tax collected was used for other purposes, indicating no reasonable cause. The bench observed that the appellant failed to provide a valid reason for not paying service tax periodically and not filing the prescribed ST-3 returns, leading to the correct imposition of penalties by the authorities. Decision: After hearing both sides and examining the case records, it was determined that the penalties imposed on the appellant were justified as the appellant did not establish a reasonable cause for the delay in discharging the service tax obligations. The appellant's argument regarding clients' delayed payments was deemed insufficient, considering the appellant's responsibility as a registered service tax assessee to pay the tax proportionately and file the required returns. Consequently, the appeal filed by the appellant was rejected, affirming the penalties imposed by the adjudicating authority and upheld by the first appellate authority.
|
