Delayed tax payment attracts statutory interest despite earlier uncertainty over works contract taxation and later absence of penalty.

Interest under Section 30(2) of the Maharashtra Value Added Tax Act was treated as payable on delayed tax remittance once delay and underlying liability were admitted. The assessee's claim that the law on works contract taxation had earlier been unclear did not, by itself, justify waiver of statutory interest, because no provision permitting such waiver was shown. The later absence of penalty after clarification in law was treated as distinct from the separate obligation to pay interest for late payment. The proposed question was therefore not regarded as raising a substantial question of law.

---

---

Issues: Whether interest under Section 30(2) of the Maharashtra Value Added Tax Act, 2002 was leviable on delayed payment of tax notwithstanding the assessee's contention that the legal position regarding works contract taxation had earlier been unclear.

Analysis: The assessee did not dispute its tax liability or the fact of delay in payment. Once such delay was admitted, Section 30(2) applied by its own force. The Court held that no statutory provision was shown permitting waiver of interest merely because the assessee had misunderstood the legal position. The absence of penalty after the later clarification in law did not erase the separate liability to pay interest for delayed payment.

Conclusion: Interest under Section 30(2) was correctly upheld, and the question proposed did not give rise to any substantial question of law.

---