2008 (5) TMI 149 - AT - Service Tax

Enhancement of the penalty by Commissioner (A) on the ground that the original authority has not given any reasons for exercising his discretion under Section 80 for reducing the penalty - no genuine reasons have been given by the applicant for delay in payment of Service Tax and filing of returns and their only plea is that duty was paid along with interest - delay is of repeated nature and range from 41 days to 229 days - prayer for waiver of pre-deposit of penalty is rejected

Summary

The Appellate Tribunal CESTAT Mumbai rejected the stay application against the enhanced penalty imposed under Section 76 of the Finance Act, 1994. The applicant failed to provide genuine reasons for the delay in depositing Service Tax and filing returns. The Tribunal directed the applicant to pay the entire amount within 8 weeks and comply by a specified date, warning that failure to do so would result in dismissal of the appeal.