https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=56 Late filing of service tax returns under Section 77 of the Finance Act, 1994 was treated as excusable where the assessee acted under a bona fide misunderstanding that the exemption for Pandal and Shamiana Contractors also covered Mandap Keepers. A contemporaneous trade notice showing similar confusion among assessees supported the finding of reasonable cause under Section 80, so full penalty was not justified. The view that penalty under Section 77 was mandatory was rejected because it did not account for the statutory protection in Section 80. The penalty was therefore reduced, with partial relief granted. en-us Wed, 29 Aug 2001 00:00:00 +0530 Wed, 02 Jul 2008 12:52:00 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=56 Late filing of service tax returns under Section 77 of the Finance Act, 1994 was treated as excusable where the assessee acted under a bona fide misunderstanding that the exemption for Pandal and Shamiana Contractors also covered Mandap Keepers. A contemporaneous trade notice showing similar confusion among assessees supported the finding of reasonable cause under Section 80, so full penalty was not justified. The view that penalty under Section 77 was mandatory was rejected because it did not account for the statutory protection in Section 80. The penalty was therefore reduced, with partial relief granted. Case-Laws Service Tax Wed, 29 Aug 2001 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=56