2004 (7) TMI 9 - AT - Service Tax

Service Tax Appeal Dismissed: Date of Cheque Presentation as Payment Date

The Appellate Tribunal CESTAT, New Delhi dismissed the Revenue's appeal against the Order-in-Appeal, considering the date of cheque presentation as the ... Date of payment of service tax - presentation of cheque as date of payment - credit in Government account not determinative of payment date - cheque presented on due date and not dishonouredDate of payment of service tax - presentation of cheque as date of payment - credit in Government account not determinative of payment date - Whether the date of payment of service tax is the date the cheque was presented on the due date or the date on which the amount was credited into the Government account - HELD THAT: - The Tribunal examined the revenue's contention that payment should be reckoned on the date the amount was credited into the Government account rather than the date of presentation of the cheque. The Tribunal applied the precedent of the Larger Bench in CCE, Jaipur-I v. Genus Overseas Electronics Ltd., which held that where a cheque is presented on the due date and is not dishonoured, the date of presentation constitutes the date of payment of service tax. On the facts before the Tribunal the cheque had been presented on the due date and was not dishonoured. Applying the Larger Bench principle, the Tribunal found no infirmity in the Commissioner (Appeals) order which treated the cheque-presentation date as the date of payment, and therefore rejected the revenue's contention based on the later credit date. [Paras 2]The date of presentation of the cheque (presented on the due date and not dishonoured) is the date of payment of service tax; appeal dismissed.Final Conclusion: The appeal is dismissed: the Commissioner (Appeals) was correctly held to have treated the date of presentation of the cheque (presented on the due date and not dishonoured) as the date of payment of service tax, and the later date of credit in the Government account does not change the date of payment. The Appellate Tribunal CESTAT, New Delhi dismissed the appeal filed by the Revenue against the Order-in-Appeal. The Tribunal held that the date of presentation of the cheque is considered the date of payment of Service Tax, citing a previous decision. Since the cheque was not dishonored and the amount was credited in the Government account, the appeal was dismissed.