Service Tax :-Due Date, Late Fee and Penalty for Filing ST-3 return

Late Fee

• As per provisions contained in Section 70 of the Finance Act, 1994, a person liable to pay Service tax is required to file periodical return in prescribed form with late fee for delayed furnishing of return. It also provides the maximum amount of late fee payable.
   
• Rule 7 of Service Tax Rules, 1994, prescribes the manner of filing returns and also mandates that such return is to be filed by 25th of the month following the particular half yearly period to which the return relates. In other words, return in Form ST-3 for the period April to September is to be filed by 25th of October and that for the period October to March by 25th of April.
   
• The said Rule 7 also provides that if the return is not filed by the specified due date, the assessee is required to submit the return with late fee for the period of delay.
   
• The scale of late fee payable has been prescribed in Rule 7C of Service Tax Rules, 1994 subject to maximum as prescribed under Section 70 of the Finance Act, 1994.
   
• By Section 74 of the Finance Act, 2011, the said Section 70 has been amended so as to revise the maximum amount of such late fee from Rs. 2000/- to Rs. 20,000/-. This amendment has come in to effect from 08.04.2011.
   
• The scale of late fee payable as prescribed under Rule 7C of Service Tax Rules, 1994 is as follows:
   

         >> For delay of 15 days, late fee will be Rs. 500/-.
         >> For delay over 15 days but not later than 30 days, late fee will be Rs. 1000/-.
        >> Beyond 30 days, the late fee payable is Rs. 1000/- plus Rs. 100/- per day from 

              31st day till date of the furnishing of ST-3 Return.
        >> However, the maximum amount payable shall not exceed Rs. 20,000/- .

• If service tax return for the year 2008-09 is not filed till date, it can be said that, payment of late fees is relatable to period of delay in filing return and is not relatable to assessment period. In other words, the period between the due date and the actual date of filing return is relevant for calculating the amount of late fees and such amount is required to be calculated as per rates prescribed in Rule 7C of the Service Tax Rules, 1994 existing on the date of filing the return.
   
• Under the circumstances, the maximum amount of late fee as revised by Finance act, 2011 will be applicable to all the delayed returns filed after 08.04.2011 irrespective of the period to which such return relates.
   

Penalty

•  If Service Tax Return is not filed within prescribed period, penalty is leviable under Section 77(2) of the Finance Act, 1994 which can be up to Rs. 10,000/-.
  
• The penalty can be waived under Section 80, if assessee proves that failure was due to reasonable cause. If late fee is paid, penalty will not be imposed.
   
• If assessee is providing more than one service, there is only one penalty for delay in filing return and not separate penalties for each taxable service.[CBEC’s Circular No.76/6/2004-ST dt.03.03.2004].
  
• If the gross amount of service tax payable is nil, the Central Excise officer may, on being satisfied that there is sufficient reason for not filing the return, reduce or waive the penalty.[proviso to Rule 7C of Service Tax Rules, 1994]

Service Tax :- Mandatory Payment of Duty / Tax through internet banking

           Prior to 1.1.14, a manufacturer/service tax payer was required to pay duty of Central Excise/Service tax through internet banking (e-payment) if the total duty paid by the assessee exceeded rupees ten lakhs in the previous financial year as per Rule 8 of the Central Excise Rules, 2002 and Rule 6 of the Service Tax Rules, 1994 respectively. 

          However ,vide Notification No. 15/2013- C.E ( N.T) and Notification No. 16/2013 -(ST) dated 22-11-13 , a manufacturer or a Service tax payer who has paid a duty or tax of more than rupees one lakh in the previous financial year shall be required to pay duty or tax through internet-banking, with effect from 1st of January , 2014.

Notification No. 15/2013- C.E ( N.T)

[TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE GAZETTE OF INDIA, EXTRAORDINARY, PART II, SECTION 3, SUB-SECTION (i)]

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE

Notification No. 15/2013 – Central Excise (N.T.)

New Delhi, the 22^nd November, 2013

01, Agrahayan 1935 Saka

G.S.R. (E). - In exercise of the powers conferred by section 37 of the Central Excise Act, 1944 (1 of 1944), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules to further amend the Central Excise Rules, 2002, namely:-

1. (1)   These rules may be called the Central Excise (Second Amendment) Rules, 2013.

    (2)   They shall come into force with effect from the 1st day of January, 2014.

2. In the Central Excise Rules, 2002, in rule 8, in sub-rule (1), in the third proviso, for the words  “rupees ten lakh”,  the words “rupees one lakh” shall be substituted.

F. No. 201/02/2013-CX.6

(Pankaj  Jain)
Under Secretary to the Government of India 

Note: The principal rules were published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, sub-section (i), dated the 1st March, 2002 vide notification No. 4/2002 – Central Excise ( N.T.), dated the 1^st March, 2002, [G.S.R. 143 (E), dated the 1st March, 2002] and was last amended, vide, notification No. 2/2013 - Central Excise (N.T.), dated the 1^st March, 2013, [G.S.R 149(E) dated the 1^st March, 2013].

                                                                                                                               

Service Tax Return :- First Half Yearly Service Tax Return (ST3)-April 2013 to September 2013 (as on 30.09.2013)

           Service Tax Return (ST-3) for the period April -September' 13 is now available in ACES for e-filing by the assesses in both offline and online version. The last date of filing the ST-3 return for the said period is 25th October, 2013. The assesses can file return either online or use the offline utility by downloading the latest version from here or from 'DOWNLOADS' Section of ACES website. For details on how to e-file in ACES or any further information/assistance, assessees may read the Instructions given in the return form and the FAQs under 'Help' Section of the ACES website http : // www . aces . gov.in/ or contact their jurisdictional Service Tax Officer.

Service Tax :- Education Services- Clarification through new Circular No. 172/7/2013 ST dated 19.09.2013

Central Board of Excise & Customs has recently issued a service tax circular no. 172/7/2013- ST dated 19.09.2013 regarding Education Services provided by educational institutes.  Circular in detail is given below :-

Circular No.172/7/2013 – ST

F. No.B1/14/2013-TRU

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

Department of Revenue

Central Board of Excise& Customs

Tax Research Unit

146-F, North Block

New Delhi, 19^th September, 2013

To

Chief Commissioners of Central Excise and Service Tax (All),    

Director General (Service Tax), Director General (Central Excise Intelligence), 

Director General (Audit),

Commissioners of Service Tax (All),

Commissioners of Central Excise and Service Tax (All).

Madam/Sir,

Subject: Education services – clarification -- reg.

             

            The following representations have been received seeking clarifications regarding the levy of service tax on certain services relating to the education sector:

1.     Private Schools Correspondents Confederation, Madurai.

2.     Tamil Nadu Nursery, Primary, matriculation and Higher Secondary Schools Association, Chennai.

3.     Punjab Association, Chennai.

4.     Association of Self financing Universities of Rajasthan

5.     Unaided Schools’ Forum, Mumbai.

6.     Vedavalli Vidyalaya, Wallajapet.

7.     Independent Schools Associations, Chandigarh.

8.     Mother Teresa Public School, New Delhi.

9.     BVM Global, Chennai.

10.  Sastra University, Tanjavur.

11.  HLC International, Chennai.

12.  Sodexo Food Solutions, Mumbai.

13.  Federation of Associations of Maharastra, Mumbai.

2.         The matter is covered by two provisions of the Finance Act, 1994. Section 66D of the Finance Act contains a negative list of services and clause (l) thereof reads as under:

“services by way of –

(i) pre-school education and education upto higher secondary school or equivalent;

(ii) education as a part of a curriculum for obtaining a qualification recognized by any law for the time being in force;

(iii) education as a part of an approved vocational education course;”.

            Further section 93(1) of the Finance Act, 1994, enables the Government to exempt generally or subject to such conditions taxable service of specified description. By virtue of the said power, Government has issued a notification No.25/2012-ST dated 20^th June, 2012, exempting certain services. Sl.no.9 thereof reads as follows:

“Services provided to an educational institution in respect of education exempted from service tax, by way of,-

(a) auxiliary educational services; or

(b) renting of immovable property;”.

As defined in the said notification, "auxiliary educational services" means any services relating to imparting any skill, knowledge, education or development of course content or any other knowledge–enhancement activity, whether for the students or the faculty, or any other services which educational institutions ordinarily carry out themselves but may obtain as outsourced services from any other person, including services relating to admission to such institution, conduct of examination, catering for the students under any mid-day meals scheme sponsored by Government, or transportation of students, faculty or staff of such institution.

3.         By virtue of the entry in the negative list and by virtue of the portion of the exemption notification, it will be clear that all services relating to education are exempt from service tax. There are many services provided to an educational institution. These have been described as “auxiliary educational services” and they have been defined in the exemption notification. Such services provided to an educational institution are exempt from service tax. For example, if a school hires a bus from a transport operator in order to ferry students to and from school, the transport services provided by the transport operator to the school are exempt by virtue of the exemption notification.

4.         In addition to the services mentioned in the definition of “auxiliary educational services”, other examples would be hostels, housekeeping, security services, canteen, etc.

5.         Thus the apprehensions conveyed in the representations submitted by certain educational institutions and organizations have no basis whatsoever. These institutions and organizations are requested not to give credence to rumours or mischievous suggestions. If there is any doubt they are requested to approach the Chief Commissioner concerned.

6.         All concerned are requested to acknowledge the receipt of this circular.

(J.M.Kennedy)

Director, TRU

Tel: 011-23092634

E-mail: jm.kennedy@nic.in

Service Tax :- Due Date extended from 31.08.2013 to 10.09.2013

Friends 

                    Central Board of Excise & Customs department has issued an Order No: 4/2013- Service Tax dated 30-08-2013 regarding extension of due date for submission of Service Tax Return for the period 01.10.2012 to 31.03.2013.  Now online utility along with offline excel based utility is freely available as www.aces.gov.in for submission of Service Tax return for period mentioned above.  This order has been issued due to avoid congestion and inconvenience in the last minute, all assesses are hereby advised to start e-filling Service Tax Return immediately and not to wait till the last date. 

F.No.137/99/2011-Service Tax

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

Department of Revenue

Central Board of Excise & Customs

***

New Delhi, dated the 30^th August, 2013

Order No: 4/2013-Service Tax

            In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-rule(4) of rule 7 of the Service Tax Rules, 1994, the Central Board of Excise & Customs hereby extends the date of submission of the  Form ST-3  for the period from 1^st October 2012 to 31^st March 2013, from 31^st August, 2013 to  10^th September, 2013.

            The circumstances of a special nature, which have given rise to this extension of time, are as follows:  

            “ Difficulties have been faced by  assesses in uploading the offline utilities”.

 Himani Bhayana

Under Secretary (Service Tax)

Central Board of Excise and Customs

To

All Chief Commissioners of Central Excise / Customs and Central Excise

Directors General of Service Tax /Central Excise Intelligence /Audit/Systems All Commissioners of Central Excise/ Customs and Central Excise

All Commissioners of Service Tax

All Commissioners LTU

All Additional Directors General Systems

Service Tax :- Supoort, Service Desk, Toll Free Number

Friends  Central Board of Excise and Customs Department has provided Email address, Service Desk and Toll Free Number to resolve the problems of their customers related to Service Tax matters.  Toll Free Number , Email Address and Service  Desk link for the same is given below :-

In case of any difficulty in accessing the ACES Application or in using the ST-3 offline utility, the assessees can seek help of the ACES Service Desk by sending e-mail to aces.servicedesk@icegate.gov.in or calling up national toll-free number 1800 425 4251. In general, the Service Desk functions on any working day from Monday to Friday between 9 AM and 7 PM & on Saturdays between 9 AM to 2.30 PM. In order to assist assessees in filing their ST-3 returns in time, in the month of August, 2013, the ACES Service Desk will function from 9 AM to 7 PM on all Saturdays and also on the last Sunday (25-8-2013).

Service Tax :- Online ST-3 for the period October, 2012 to March, 2013.

Friends    Earlier only offline excel utility was available for submission of service tax return for the period,  now Central Board of Excise and Taxation has also provided facility to submit online Service Tax ST-3 return form for the period 10/12 to 03/13.  Some important guideline for submission of online return is given below :-

1. The online version of the Service Tax return (ST-3) for the period October'12 to March'13 is now available for e-filing in ACES. Assessees can also use the offline utility by downloading the latest version from http://acesdownload.nic.in/ or from 'DOWNLOADS' Section of ACES website. Assessees whose ST 3 returns for the period October'12 to March'13 for "Banking and other Financial services" got rejected are requested to use the latest version of ST 3, either online or off-line to file their return. The last date of e-filing of ST 3 for the period October, 2012 to March, 2013 is 31st August, 2013. To avoid congestion and inconvenience on the last date assessees are advised to start e-filing the returns immediately and not to wait till the end of the month.
   
   
2. New user-friendly features in the Oct, 2012 -March, 2013 ST-3 Return :
   A. Previously, the assessees were able to view the filed returns using the option, 'View Original ST3'. This facility has been enhanced with a new feature by displaying in the return, the list of error codes (with corresponding error messages). This will help the assessees to know about the errors so that they can exercise the option of filing Revised return by rectifying the errors. This facility will be made available shortly and the exact date will be intimated on ACES website. 
   
   
   B. As soon as the return uploaded by the assessee is accepted or rejected by the system, a system-generated message will be e-mailed to the assessee. The assessee can rectify the errors and file the corrected return. 

Service Tax :- Circular No. 170 / 5 /2013-ST

Circular No.  170/5 /2013 - ST

F. No. B1/19/2013-TRU (Pt)

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

Department of Revenue

Central Board of Excise and Customs

Tax Research Unit

*****

New Delhi, dated the 8th August, 2013

To,

Chief Commissioners of Central Excise and Customs (All),

Director General (Service Tax), Director General (Systems),

Director General (Central Excise Intelligence), Director General (Audit),

Commissioners of Service Tax (All), Commissioners of Central Excise (All), Commissioners of Central Excise and Customs (All)

Madam/Sir,

Subject: The Service Tax Voluntary Compliance Encouragement Scheme - clarifications regarding.

            The Service Tax Voluntary Compliance Encouragement Scheme (VCES) has come into effect from 10.5.2013. Some of the issues raised with reference to the Scheme have been clarified by the Board vide circular No. 169/4/2013-ST, dated 13.5.2013.  Subsequently, references have been received by the Board seeking further clarifications as regards the scope and applicability of the Scheme.

2.         The issues have been examined and clarifications thereto are as follows:

S No.	Issues	Clarification
1	Whether the communications, wherein department has sought information of roving nature from potential taxpayer regarding their business activities without seeking any documents from such person or calling for his presence, while quoting the authority of section 14 of the Central Excise Act, 1944, would attract the provision of section 106 (2) (a)?	Attention is invited to clarification issued at S. No. 4 of the circular No. 169/4/2013–ST, dated 13.5.2013, as regards the scope of section 106 (2) (a) of the Finance Act, 2013, wherein it has been clarified that the provision of section 106 (2)(a)(iii) shall be attracted only in such cases where accounts, documents or other evidence are requisitioned by the authorized officer from the declarant under the authority of a statutoryprovision. A communication of the nature as mentioned in the previous column would not attract the provision of section 106 (2)(a) even though the authority of section 14 of the Central Excise Act may have been quoted therein.
2	An assessee has two units at two different locations, say Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Both are separately registered.  The Mumbai unit has received a Show Cause Notice for non-payment of tax on a revenue stream but the Ahmedabad unit has not.  Whether the Ahmedabad unit is eligible for VCES?	Two separate service tax registrations are two distinct assessees for the purposes of service tax levy. Therefore, eligibility for availing of the Scheme is to be determined accordingly. The unit that has not been issued a show cause notice shall be eligible to make a declaration under the Scheme.
3	Whether a declaration can be made under the Scheme in respect of CENVAT credit wrongly utilized for payment of service tax?	Any service tax that has been paid utilizing the irregular credit, amounts to non-payment of service tax. Therefore such service tax amount is covered under the definition of “tax dues”.
4	Whether a party, against whom an inquiry, investigation or audit has been initiated after 1.3.2013 (the cutoff date) can make a declaration under the Scheme?	Yes. There is no bar from filing of declaration in such cases.
5	There was a default and a Show Cause Notice was issued for the period prior to the period covered by the Scheme, i.e. before Oct 2007. Whether declaration can be filed for default on the same issue for the subsequent period?	In the context of the Scheme, the relevant period is from Oct 2007 to Dec 2012. Therefore, the 2ndproviso to section 106 (1) shall be attracted only in such cases where a show cause notice or order of determination has been issued for the period from Oct 2007 to Dec 2012. Accordingly, issuance of a show cause notice or order of determination for any period prior to Oct 2007, on an issue, would not make a person ineligible to make a declaration under the Scheme on the same issue for the period covered by the Scheme.    Therefore, declaration can be made under VCES.
6	In a case where the assessee has been audited and an audit para has been issued, whether the assessee can declare liability on an issue which is not a part of the audit para, under the VCES 2013?	Yes, declarant can declare the “tax dues” concerning an issue which is not a part of the auditpara.
7	Whether a person, who has paid service tax for a particular period but failed to file return, can take the benefit of VCES Scheme so as to avoid payment of penalty for non- filing of return?	Under VCES a declaration can be made only in respect of “tax dues”. A case where no tax is pending, but return has not been filed, does not come under the ambit of the Scheme. However, rule 7C of the Service Tax Rules provides for waiver of penalty in deserving cases where return has not been filed and, in such cases, the assessee may seek relief under rule 7C.
8	A person has made part payment of his ‘tax dues’ on any issue before the scheme was notified and makes the declaration under VCES for the remaining part of the tax dues. Will he be entitled to the benefit of non-payment of interest/penalty on the tax dues paid by him outside the VCES, i.e., (amount paid prior to VCES)?	No. The immunity from interest and penalty is only for “tax dues” declared under VCES. If any “tax dues” have been paid prior to the enactment of the scheme, any liability of interest or penalty thereon shall be adjudicated as per the provisions of Chapter V of the Finance Act, 1994 and paid accordingly.
9	Whether an assessee, who, during a part of the period covered by the Scheme, is in dispute on an issue with the department under an erstwhile provision of law, can declare his liability under the amended provisions, while continuing to litigate the outstanding liability under the erstwhile provision on the issue?	In terms of the second proviso to section 106 (1), where a notice or order of determination has been issued to a person in respect of any issue, no declaration shall be made by such person  in respect of “tax dues” on the same issue for subsequent period. Therefore, if an issue is being litigated for a part of the period covered by the Scheme, i.e., Oct, 2007 to Dec 2012, no declaration can be filed under VCES in terms of the said proviso on the same issue for the subsequent period.
10	Whether upon filing a declaration a declarant realizes that the declaration filed by him was incorrect by mistake? Can he file an amended declaration?	The declarant is expected to declare his tax dues correctly. In case the mistake is discovered suo-moto by the declarant himself, he may approach the designated authority, who, after taking into account the overall facts of the case may allow amendments to be made in the declaration, provided that the amended declaration is furnished by declarant before the cut off date for filing of declaration, i.e., 31.12.2013.
11	What is the consequence if the designated authority does not issue an acknowledgement within seven working days of filing of declaration? Whether the declarant can start making payment of the tax dues even if acknowledgement is not issued?	Department would ensure that the acknowledgement is issued in seven working days from the date of filing of the declaration.  It may however be noted that payment of tax dues under the Scheme is not linked to the issuance of an acknowledgement. The declarant can pay tax dues even before the acknowledgement is issued by the department.
12	Whether declarant will be given an opportunity to be heard and explain his cases before the rejection of a declaration under section 106(2) by the designated authority?	Yes. In terms of  section 106 (2) of the Finance Act, 2013, the designated authority shall, by an order, and for reasons to be recorded in writing, reject a declaration if any inquiry/investigation or audit was pending against the declarant as on the cutoff date, i.e., 1.3.2013.  An order under this section shall be passed following the principles of natural justice. To allay any apprehension of undue delays and uncertainty, it is clarified that the designated authority, if he has reasons to believe that the declaration is covered by section 106 (2), shall give a notice of intention to reject the declaration within 30 days of the date of filing of the declaration stating the reasons for the intention to reject the declaration. For declarations already filed, the said period of 30 days would apply from the date of this circular. The declarant shall be given an opportunity to be heard before any order is passed by the designated authority.
13	What is the appeal mechanism against the order of the designated authority whereby he rejects the declaration under section 106 (2) of the Finance Act, 2013?	The Scheme does not have a statutory provision for filing of appeal against the order for rejection of declaration under section 106 (2) by the designated authority.
14	A declarant pays a certain amount under the Scheme and subsequently his declaration is rejected. Would the amount so paid by him be adjusted against his liability that may be determined by the department?	The amount so paid can be adjusted against the liability that is determined by the department.
15	Section 111 prescribes that where the Commissioner of Central Excise has reasons to believe that the declaration made by the declarant was ‘substantiallyfalse’, he may serve a notice on the declarant in respect of such declaration. However, what constitutes a ‘substantially false’ declaration has not been specified.	The Commissioner would, in the overall facts of the case, taking into account the reasons he has to believe, take a judicious view as to whether a declaration is ‘substantially false’. It is not feasible to define the term “substantially false” in precise terms.  The proceeding under section 111 would be initiated in accordance with the principles of natural justice. To illustrate, a declarant has declared his “tax dues” as Rs 25 lakh. However, Commissioner has specific information that declaration has been made only for part liability, and the actual “tax dues”   areRs 50 lakh. This declaration would fall in the category of “substantially false”. This example is only illustrative.
16	What is the consequence if a declarant fails to pay atleast 50% of declared amount of tax dues by the 31st Dec 2013?	One of the conditions of the Scheme [section 107 (3)] is that the declarant shall pay atleast an amount equal to 50% of the declared tax dues under the Scheme, on or before the 31.12.2013. Therefore, if the declarant fails to pay atleast 50% of the declared tax dues by 31st Dec, 2013, he would not be eligible to avail of the benefit of the scheme.
17	Whether the CENVAT credit is admissible on the inputs/input services used for provision of output service in respect of which declaration has been made under VCES for payment of any tax liability outside the VCES?	The VCES Rules 2013 prescribe that CENVAT credit cannot be utilized for payment of “tax dues” under the Scheme. Accordingly the “tax dues” under the Scheme shall be paid in cash. The admissibility of CENVAT credit on any inputs and input services used for provision of output service in respect of which declaration has been made shall continue to be governed by the provisions of the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004.
18	(a)  Whether the tax dues amount paid under VCES would be eligible as CENVAT credit to the recipient of service under a supplementary invoice? (b) Whether cenvat credit would be admissible to the person who pays tax dues under VCES as service recipient under reverse charge mechanism?	Rule 6(2) of the Service Tax Voluntary Compliance Encouragement Rules, 2013, prescribes that CENVAT credit cannot be utilized for payment of “tax dues” under the Scheme. Except this condition, all issues relating to admissibility of CENVAT credit are to be determined in terms of the provisions of the Cenvat Credit Rules. As regards admissibility of CENVAT credit in situations covered under part (a) and (b), attention is invited to rule 9(1)(bb) and 9(1)(e)  respectively of the Cenvat Credit Rules.
19	In terms of section 106 (2)(b), if a declaration made by a person against whom an audit has been initiated and where such audit is pending, then the designated authority shall by an order and for reasons to be recorded in writing, reject such declaration. As the audit process may involve several stages, it may be indicated as to what event would constitute,- (i) initiation of audit; and (ii) culmination of audit.	Initiation of audit: For the purposes of VCES, the date of the visit of auditors to the unit of the taxpayer would be taken as the date of initiation of audit. A register is maintained of all visits for audit purposes. Culmination of audit: The audit process may culminate in any of the following manner.- (i)    Closure of audit file if no discrepancy is found in audit; (ii) Closure of audit para by the Monitoring Committee Meeting (MCM); (iii)  Approval of audit para by MCM and payment of amount involved therein by the party in terms of the provisions of the Finance Act, 1994; (iv)  Approval of audit para by MCM, and issuance of SCN, if party does not agree to the paraso raised. The audit culminates at a point when the auditparas raised are settled in any manner as stated above. The pendency of audit as on 1.3.2013 means an audit that has been initiated before 1.3.2013 but has not culminated as on 1.3.2013.

3. Trade Notice/Public Notice may be issued to the field formations and tax payers.

Please acknowledge receipt of this Circular.

Hindi version follows.

Yours sincerely,

(S. Jayaprahasam)

Technical Officer, TRU

Tel: 011-2309 2037

Service Tax :- Due Date for submitting return for the period 01-10.2012 to 31-03-2013

Service Tax return for the period 1st October 2012 to 31st March 2013 may be filed up to 31st August 2013.  Excel based  Return Preparation Utility of ST-3 form is available here (download).  The due date has already been notified by Central Board of Excise & Customs department vide  Order No: 03/2013 dated 23rd April, 2013 which is given below for information and knowledge :-

F.No.137/99/2011-Service Tax

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

Department of Revenue

Central Board of Excise & Customs

***

New Delhi, dated the 23^rd April, 2013

Order No: 03/2013-Service Tax

            In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-rule(4) of rule 7 of the Service Tax Rules, 1994, the Central Board of Excise & Customs hereby extends the date of submission of the  Form ST-3, for the period from 1^st October 2012 to 31^st March 2013, from 25^th April, 2013 to  31^st August, 2013.

            The circumstances of a special nature, which have given rise to this extension of time, are as follows:  

      “The Form ST-3, for the period from 1^st October 2012 to 31^st March 2013, is expected to be available on ACES around 31^st of July, 2013”.

 Himani Bhayana

Under Secretary (Service Tax)

Central Board of Excise and Customs

To

All Chief Commissioners of Central Excise / Customs and Central Excise

Directors General of Service Tax /Central Excise Intelligence /Audit/Systems All Commissioners of Central Excise/ Customs and Central Excise

All Commissioners of Service Tax

All Commissioners LTU

All Additional Directors General Systems