1. Stay Order for Late Fee levied by Service Tax Officials
In the case of M/s. Shree Travels, the Show Cause Notice demanded Service tax of Rs.29,78,564/- and interest apart from penalty. The applicant has filed an application before Settlement Commission admitting the entire Service Tax liability along with interest. The Hon’ble Settlement Commission of Customs, Central Excise & Customs have passed an order settling the admitted amount of Service Tax and interest. Apart from the above, the Settlement Commission directed the applicant to pay the late fee of Rs.1,46,000/- for belated filing of ST-3 returns, which is beyond the scope of the Show Cause Notice. Hence Writ Petition was filed before Hon’ble High Court of Madras. The Hon’ble High Court of Madras has passed an interim stay order with regard to the demand of late fee to the tune of Rs. 1,46,000/- till the disposal of the writ petition.
2. Service Tax on ‘Rent-a-cab scheme operator service’
In the case of M/s.Infant Travels Pvt Ltd., the Show Cause Notice was issued demanding Service Tax of Rs.10,94,71,349/- payable on ‘Rent-a-cab scheme operator service’ under section 73(1) of the Finance Act, 1944, along with proposals for charging interest under section 75 and penalties under section 76, 77 and 78 of the Finance Act, 1944. The Applicant filed application with Hon’ble Settlement Commission of Service Tax and Central Excise admitting Service Tax of Rs. 6,08,01,944/- along with the interest of Rs.71,96,858/-. During the hearing, the Bench ordered for joint sitting of the Applicant and the department for resolving contentious issues. Subsequent to the joint sitting, the Applicant, admitted further Service Tax liability of Rs.2,19,698/- and thereby accepted total service tax liability of Rs.6,10,21,642/- along with the interest of Rs. 72,64,702/-. The jurisdictional commissioner did not accept the stand of the Applicant relating to taxability of certain services.
The Hon’ble Settlement Commission of Service Tax and Central Excise, vide Final Order No. 30/2016 dated 25.04.2016, sent back the case for departmental adjudication in terms of the provisions of Section 32L of the Central Excise Act, 1944. Aggrieved by the order of the Settlement commission of Service Tax and Central Excise, the applicant approached the Hon’ble High Court of Madras in WP No.18658 of 2016 and WMP No. 16274 of 2016 seeking a direction for quashing the Final order. The Hon’ble High Court of Madras allowed the Writ Petition and directed the Settlement commission of Service Tax and Central Excise to afford an opportunity of personal hearing to the petitioner and decide the issue in accordance with the provisions of the statute. As per the order of the Hon’ble High Court of Madras, the Settlement Commission has passed final order settling the case based on the admission made by the Applicant.
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