FAILURE FOR SERVICE TAX REGISTRATION

[Pushkar Gupta]

Dear Sir

We are registered under Central Excise, during the audit of Excise it was revealed that freight was charged on invoice which was total of ₹ 4000 on some invoice, we forgot to take registration and not paid the service tax on GTA. Excise Audit officer is asking for deposit the penalty of ₹ 10,000 for not taking registration timely, now we have applied and got registration.

Please suggest how to waive penalty or reduce.

Thanks

[KASTURI SETHI]

Under Section 77, it is the maximum penalty. Read the language of Section 77 , " which may extend to ₹ 10,000/- "A.C./D.C. of Division Office may reduce the amount of penalty or waive, if he is convinced that it is a bona fide mistake.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

Reproducing sub-section (2) of section 77 , as below:

(2) Any person, who contravenes any of the provisions of this Chapter or any rules made thereunder for which no penalty is separately provided in this Chapter, shall be liable to a penalty which may extend to ten thousand rupees.

AI Summary

Penalty for failure to register for service tax may be reduced or waived if a bona fide mistake is shown.
Failure to obtain service tax registration for GTA services exposes the taxpayer to a penalty under the service tax chapter; the assessing authority may reduce or waive the penalty if satisfied the omission was a bona fide mistake, and voluntary registration after discovery is a relevant factor in requests for mitigation.