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Rate of interest on delayed payment of duty as applicable during the impugned period – Issues therein |
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Rate of interest on delayed payment of duty as applicable during the impugned period – Issues therein |
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Dear Professional Colleague, Rate of interest on delayed payment of duty as applicable during the impugned period – Issues therein We are sharing with you an important judgement of the Hon’ble CESTAT, Chennai in the case of Jeevan Diesels & Electricals Ltd. Vs. Commissioner of Central Excise, Pondichery [2016 (3) TMI 438 - CESTAT CHENNAI] on the following issues: Issues
Facts & Background: Jeevan Diesels & Electricals Ltd. (“the Appellant”), 100% EOU, cleared the goods to their DTA unit in the month of January, April, May and August, 2011, without payment of duty. Accordingly, a Show Cause Notice dated January 20, 2012, was issued to the Appellant demanding duty of ₹ 1,12,25,765/- along with interest and penalty under Section 11AC of the Excise Act read with Rule 25 of Central Excise Rules, 2002a (“the Excise Rules”). Entire amount of duty was paid on various dates and the last instalment was paid on April 15, 2012, i.e. before passing of the Adjudication Order. Thereafter, the Adjudicating Authority appropriated entire duty amount paid by the Appellant and adjusted towards the demand. Further, interest of ₹ 17,35,425/- was demanded and an amount of ₹ 15,47,788/- paid by the Appellant was appropriated. Furthermore, equivalent penalty under Section 11AC of the Excise Act read with Rule 25 of the Excise Rules was confirmed. Appellant’s contention:
Revenue’s contention:
Held: The Hon’ble CESTAT, Chennai held as under:
Thus the Appeal was partly allowed in favour of the Appellant. Our Comments: It would not be out of place here to mention that the Union Budget, 2016 has rationalised interest rates on delayed payment of duty/ taxes across all Indirect taxes viz. Service tax, Excise and Customs and made it uniform at 15% per annum, except in case of Service tax collected but not deposited with the Central Government, in which case, the rate of interest will be 24% per annum from the date on which the Service tax payment becomes due:
Hence, inference of the above judgment can also be applied to compute rate of interest post revision made after enactment of the Finance Bill, 2016 for the Service tax purpose. In other words, applicable rate of interest for belated payment of duty is that prevalent during period(s) of delay irrespective of the period for which there has been delay in payment of duty. Thus, old rates would be applicable till March 31, 2016 under the Excise and Customs and prevalent rates under Service tax till enactment of the Finance Bill, 2016. This concept has been discussed by Mr. Bimal Jain with specific example(s) for better clarity in his video presentation titled “Rate of interest on delayed payment & period of limitation for non-fraud cases under ST, Excise & Customs”. Apparently, the video also captures the issue of increase in period of limitation for non-fraud cases under Service Tax, Excise and Customs, with analyses of its applicability for issuing SCNs for cases relating to past period. Both the issues are generic yet crucial, and are likely to affect every realm of the Trade & Industry. You may watch the video presentation:
By: Bimal jain - May 13, 2016
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