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2009 (6) TMI 468 - AT - Service TaxPenalty- Courier Services- The appellants had urged before the authorities that the reasons for belated payment of tax and interest on courier service rendered by them was because they had engaged a local auditor for the purpose of service tax and filing returns and had handed over all the documents for verification to him but due to his prolonged illness, the auditor was not able to comply with the requirements of law within the prescribed period. Held that- there was a reasonable cause for the failure on their part, and applying the provisions of section 80 of the Finance Act, 1994, set aside the penalty and allow the appeal.
Issues: Penalty under section 76 of Chapter V of the Finance Act, 1994 for delayed payment of service tax and interest.
Analysis: 1. The judgment deals with the issue of penalty imposed on the assessees under section 76 of Chapter V of the Finance Act, 1994 for delayed payment of service tax and interest. The penalty amount was initially Rs. 2,74,200, which was reduced to Rs. 1,50,000 by the lower appellate authority. 2. The assessees contended that the delay in payment was due to the prolonged illness of their local auditor, who was responsible for tax compliance. They argued that they had handed over all necessary documents to the auditor, but he could not fulfill his duties within the prescribed period. However, the authorities did not provide any finding on the reasonableness of this cause for the delay in payment. 3. The appellate tribunal observed that the revenue did not rebut the assessees' plea regarding the reasonable cause for the delay. Consequently, the tribunal accepted that there was a reasonable cause for the failure to comply with the provisions of section 76 of the Act. As per section 80 of the Finance Act, 1994, which allows for setting aside penalties in case of reasonable causes, the tribunal waived the penalty and allowed the appeal in favor of the assessees. 4. In conclusion, the tribunal found that the assessees had a valid reason for the delay in payment of service tax and interest, which was beyond their control due to the illness of their auditor. As the revenue did not counter this argument, the penalty imposed under section 76 was set aside, and the appeal was allowed in favor of the assessees.
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