LOGIPRO SOFTWARE PVT. LTD. Vs. COMMISSIONER OF CENTRAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) IN terms of the impugned order, the appellant is required to pre -deposit penalty of Rs. 1,01,999/ - under Section 76 of the Finance Act, 1994 for default in payment of Service Tax and interest.

(2.) THE learned Chartered Accountant informed the Bench that the appellants had paid the Service Tax along with interest well before the cutoff date as per the "Extra -ordinary Tax Payer Friendly Scheme" notified by the Government. He stated that the appellants had registered with the Service Tax officials for payment of Service Tax. However, due to certain misconceptions they paid the tax quarterly instead of every month. Consequently, they had to discharge the interest on late payments. He said that in terms of several decisions, if the assessee pays the Service Tax well before the cutoff date as per the "Extraordinary Tax Payer Friendly Scheme" notified by the Government, then no penalty will be leviable. He relied on the following decisions.

(3.) ON the other hand, the learned departmental representative argued that the benefit of the scheme would be applicable only in those cases where the registration was done under the scheme. In the present case, the registration was done much before the scheme came into operation and the appellants have proved themselves to be habitual defaulter of Service Tax. Hence, he argued that the decisions cited by the learned Chartered Accountant would not be applicable.