Jurisprudentiol – Thursday's cases

By Vijay Kumar

Legal Corner Icon — the image was hosted by the publisher and was not captured.Central Excise

Irregular CENVAT Credit taken - inputs seized - release ordered subject to full bank guarantee: High Court

BE careful when you take the CENVAT credit on inputs – the Department may consider them as not qualified as inputs and seize them. If you want seizure to be lifted, you will have to arrange for a hundred percent bank guarantee!

Income Tax

MAT credit available under Section 115JAA represents tax paid by assessee before determination of total income - Forms do not override Legislation: High Court

THE questions before the High Court were

Whether the Tribunal erred in law in holding that credit for brought forward MAT is to be given from gross demand before charging interest u/s.234B of the Income Tax Act, 1961?

Whether the Tribunal erred in law in holding that interest u/s. 244A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 was allowable on the refundable taxes arrived after giving credit of brought forward MAT from the gross demand ?

Service Tax

Section provides for a penalty for default of service tax simpliciter - there is no requirement that assessee should have committed default with intent to evade payment of the tax: CESTAT

INSOFAR as the penalty under section 76 is concerned, the only option for the appellant to avoid such penalty was to state a valid reason as envisaged under section 80 of the Act. In the present case, however, the assessee never invoked section 80, neither in their reply to show-cause notice nor in their appeals filed with the lower appellate authority and the Tribunal.

See our columns Tomorrow for the judgements