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2014 (4) TMI 412 - AT - Service TaxDemand of interest and levy of penalty for late payment of service tax - Extended period of limitation - Penalty u/s 76, 77, 78 & 80 - Waiver of penalty u/s 80 - Held that:- as per the findings arrived at by the Joint Commissioner, Service Tax was not deposited due to unawareness which has been taken as a reasonable cause for failure to deposit of Service Tax. As such, he has not imposed any penalty by invoking Section 80 of the Finance Act, 1994. Section 80 is to the effect that no penalty shall be imposed on the assessee for any failure referred to any Section 76, 77 or 78 of the Act, if the assessee proves that there was reasonable cause for the said failure. The demand of duty stands invoked and confirmed in terms of Section 73 of the Finance Act. The proviso to Section 73 of the Finance Act allows the Revenue to raise the demand within the extended period of 5 years for fraud, wilful mistake, suppression of facts or contravention of provisions of the Act, with intent to evade payment of duty. As such, it is clear that provision of Section 73 is invokable when there is no reasonable cause on the part of the assessee not to pay the duty inasmuch all the circumstances mentioned in the said proviso relate to mala fide intention. As such, it can be reasonably concluded that proviso to Section 73 and Section 80, if interpreted in a harmonious manner lead to only one fact that is absence of mala fide and presence of bona fide - Invocation of extended period not invocable - Matter remanded back - Decided in favour of assessee.
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