TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (11) TMI 602
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....services. Accordingly, were registered with the Service Tax department. During the audit of records of the appellant conducted on test check basis, several discrepancies were noticed by the audit team as follows: (i) Non-payment of service tax on the income received under the various accounting heads amounting to Rs. 4,91,965/-; (ii) Misc. income recoveries and liabilities being written off for the financial year 2016-17 and financial year 2017-18 up to June 2017; (iii) Non-payment of service tax under Reverse Charge Mechanism : (a) On Rent-a-cab services received from M/s Guru Harkishan Tour & Travels amounting to Rs. 91,426/-; (b) On legal services amounting to Rs. 53,814/- Based on these di....
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....The penalty has been reduced from Rs. 7,45,819/- to Rs. 3,89,320/-. Still being aggrieved, the appellant is before this Tribunal. 2. I have heard Ms. Ashna Kakar, learned counsel for the appellant and Shri Kuldeep Rawat, learned Authorized Representative for Revenue. 3. Learned counsel for the appellant submitted that appellant is a public institute involved in extending the policy advice to various Government departments. It is submitted that they have been absolutely regular in filing their timely ST-3 returns. Learned counsel has accepted the liability of service tax of Rs. 6 lakhs demanded and confirmed along with the liability of reversing the Cenvat credit of Rs. 7 lakhs along with proportionate interest. However, the order impo....
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....t make any reversal of the ineligible credit nor made any payment of their service tax liability till the audit was conducted. Hence the only possible outcome is an intent with the appellant to evade the payment of tax. Learned Departmental Representative emphasized that appellant cannot be allowed to have the benefit of being the governmental authority and about them being in policy consultancy to the government that too, on financial matters. They cannot plead ignorance of law and the inadvertent omission on their part while filing the financial records before the concerned department. Learned Departmental Representative has emphasized upon the finding in para 22.11 of the impugned order. Impressing upon no infirmity in the order under ch....
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.... (c) Willful mis-statement; or (d) Suppression of facts; or (e) Contravention of any of the provisions of this Chapter or of the rules made thereunder with intent to evade payment of service tax, by the person chargeable with the service tax or his agent, the provisions of this sub-section shall have effect, as if, for the words thirty months, the words "five years' had been substituted." 'Rule 15(3) In a case, where the Cenvat credit in respect of input or capital goods or input services has been taken or utilized wrongly by reason of fraud, collusion of any willful mis-statement or suppression of facts, or contravention of any of the provisions of these rules or of the Finance Act or of the rules mad....
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....r prescribed by the statute. Thus, on the same analogy, the party are not liable for any penal action and so the penal proceedings initiated in the show cause notice merits to be dropped." 9. In the present case, the appellant has mentioned that the non-payment of service tax and wrong availment Cenvat credit Act was an inadvertent omission. It is also apparent fact on record that the moment this discrepancy was brought to the notice of the appellant, the appellant deposited the entire amount with interest. Above all, the appellant is a governmental authority. In these circumstances, the grave consequence as that of penalty specially when there is nothing on record produced by the department to prove that the non-payment or wrong availme....