Home Case Index All Cases Service Tax Service Tax + AT Service Tax - 2012 (12) TMI AT This
Forgot password New User/ Regiser ⇒ Register to get Live Demo
2012 (12) TMI 642 - AT - Service TaxNon payment of service tax to the government - invoking extended period of limitation - Held that:- Assessee cannot escape the responsibility of ensuring that records are maintained in accordance with law and credits are availed and utilized properly. He did not made effort to find out even at any stage as to whether the service providers were in existence and whether they had paid service tax collected from them to the government. Thus failure on part of appellant proved the invocation of extended time limit for demand in this case is sustainable. Further, for the same reasons, the first appellant is liable to penalty also. Cenvat credit - denial as services used for both exempted and non exempted goods - Held that:- Admittedly the first appellant was engaged in the manufacture of animal feed which is exempted and was also engaged in trading activity & was obliged by law to maintain separate records failing which reverse the credit relatable to the trading activity. In fact there is no proposal for demanding 8%/10% on the exempted goods and therefore one has to take it that it is their case that the demand is on the ground that appellant was engaged in the manufacture of excisable goods and trading of other goods. Once the assessee is considered to be aware of statutory provisions relating to availment of credit and his activities, the normal conclusion of a ordinary prudent person is that the assessee had deliberately avoided reversing the credit attributable to trading activity and thereby suppressing/mis-declaring the fact of availment of credit to the department. Therefore the conclusions of the lower authorities to confirm the demand with interest and imposition of penalty has to be upheld - appeal filed by the first appellant has no merits and accordingly is rejected. Penalty on second appellant – Held that:- Shri Javed Shaikh, second appellant being an employee cannot be said that he derived any extra benefit because of the lapses it has not been shown that there was any motive on his part. Since penalty has been imposed on the first appellant penalty imposed on is set aside.
|