Late Submission of Monthly Return, Central Excise

[Srivatsan Krishnamachari]

The monthly returns for the month of June 2010, was submitted by us on 12th July 2010. July 10th and July 11th of 2010 were Saturday and Sunday respectively (Central Excise Offices are closed on Saturdays & Sundays)and so we had fsubmitted the returns on the next working day on Monday the 12th July. As per Rule 12 of Central Excise Rule, 2002., the returns for a month in question shall be filed within 10 days after the close of the month for which the returns are pertaining to i.e we should have filed by 10th of July, which we could not do so due to reasons mentioned above but duly filed on the next working day i.e 12th July.

Now we have been issued a Show Cause Notice by the Superintendent of the Division Concerned ,asking us to show cause as to why Penalty should not be imposed on us under Rule 27 for contravention of the Provisions of Rule 12.

Here the delay of two days is due to geniune reasons since Central Excise offices do not function on Saturdays and Sundays. I request you to clear my query as to what does the Rule say in this regard. Can the next working day immediately following the holidays or weekly offs  be  deemed last day for filing the returns.Is there any decision by CESTAT/Courts in this Regard.

Thanks & With Regards,

K.Srivatsan

Posts / Replies

[Alok Kumar]

dear mr. srivatsan .k,

in view of various jaudgements of courts/ CESTAT whereby the courts have constantly taken a view that penalty can be imposed on the manufacturers assessees only when some loss or damage has been caused to the the revenue / central excise department by the particular /specific act of the assessee.

you may please reply to the letters of the R.O. by explaining him all the genuine rasons(factual) for the delay.

i am sure no action will be taken by your r.o. and in case  SCN is issued the same will be dropped by higher authorities considering your SSI status and the small amount of penalty involved.

thanks,

 

alok kumar

advocate

[napolean bonaparte]

Where there are holidays at the end of the due date, the due date pre-pones, hence in your case, the return should have been filed on or before 09/07/2010.  It was the position previously, in the case of payment of duty.  You have not clarified whether your clearances did not exceed a value of Rs. 4 crores during the preceding financial year, in such a case, you were expected to file the return on a quarterly basis, as provided in the proviso to the explanation of the said rule.  Otherwise, you may plead before the adjudicating authority for leniency, in which case, a lesser penalty can be imposed upon you, as the general penalty is to a maximum of Rs. 5000/- only.

[pradeep khatri]

As per section 10 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 relating to computation of time, if the office is closed on the last day of the prescribed period, the proceeding shall be considered as done if the same is done on the next day on which the office is open.

Service tax Circular No. 63/12/2003-ST dated 14-10-2003 also prescribes that in case of genuine hardship on account of public holiday, the Return may be filed on next working day  immediately following the holiday.

Since there is no statutory provisions in Central Excise about the  procedure to be followed in such cases, the Section 10 of the General Clauses Act, 1897, shall be applicable and accordingly the returns cab be filed on the next day.  The Circular No.63/12/2003-ST dated 14-10-2003 though relates to Service Tax but can also be used in similar situations in Central Excise in our opinion.