As per Section 73 of Chapter V of the Finance Act, 1994, where any service tax has not been levied or paid or has been short levied or short-paid or erroneously refunded,
the Central Excise Officer
may, within ‘eighteen months’ (18 months) or within 5 years (if the reasons are (a) Fraud; or (b) Collusion; or (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 there under with intent to evade payment of service tax)
issue show cause why the person chargeable with tax should not pay the amount specified in the notice.
Please confirm whether the power of the Department w.r.t recovery of Service Tax is RESTRICTED to the dues pertaining to only 5 YEARS FROM THE RELEVANT DATE. Department can not issue notice demanding the Service Tax beyond 5 years from the Relevant Date.
Thanking you,
Sondip Goswami
