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2018 (7) TMI 1126 - AT - Service TaxDelay in payment of service tax - Services of recovery agent to M/s. ICICI Bank Ltd. - Appellant is collecting dues from the borrowers of ICICI Bank Ltd. and to take possession of the assets from the borrowers of the bank - Demand of interest for delay in payment of Service tax and levy of penalty - Held that:- It is not disputed that the appellant has paid the entire service tax before the adjudication order on 31/05/2011 - here is no suppression of facts with intent to evade payment of tax because after taking the registration, the appellant started paying service tax. The appellant has submitted that there was delay in payment of service tax because the service recipient refused to make payment towards service tax in spite of repeated demand - A penalty will ordinarily be imposed in cases where the party acts deliberately in defiance of law, or is guilty of contumacious or dishonest conduct or acts in a conscious disregard of its obligation, but not in cases where there is a technical or venal breach of the provisions of the Act or where the breach flows from a bonafide belief that the offender is not liable to act in the matter prescribed by the statute. The penalty is not imposable since the appellant had a reasonable cause which resulted in failure on the part of the appellant to pay the service tax in time, by invoking section 80, penalty is set aside - But since there is a delay in payment of service tax, the appellant is liable to pay the interest on the delayed payment which will be quantified by the original authority after considering the facts - matter is remanded for the purpose of this quantification. Appeal allowed in part.
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