E-filing of excise, service tax returns mandatory

To introduce the much-awaited Goods and Services Tax (GST) in 2012-13, the finance ministry has made it mandatory for taxpayers to file their central excise and service tax returns electronically from October 1.

E-filing through the Centre’s online tax payment application ACES (Automation of Central Excise and Service Tax) will be a must not only for returns due after October 1, but also for returns of past periods which have not been filed yet or are to be revised.

The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) said the returns would have to be filed electronically by all assesses, including export-oriented units, small-scale industries or those availing of certain exemptions, irrespective of the duty paid by them in the preceding financial year.

CBEC has also asked taxpayers to file various other documents on the electronic mode, such as the annual financial information statement and the annual installed capacity statement. The steps are being taken to make the transition to GST smooth. The finance ministry has set the next financial year as the target to introduce the indirect tax regime, which will subsume most of the taxes levied by the Centre and the states on sale of goods and supply of services. The government wants to strengthen its information technology backbone before switching to GST.

It is designing a single portal for registration, filing returns and payment of taxes under GST. The system, called GST-N, will automatically segregate the data that needs to go to the state system. Payments will be done through RBI clearing accounts for states and the Centre. A pilot project is being undertaken in 11 states. States are expected to move to this IT platform even before the introduction of GST.

The new platform would provide a common PAN-based taxpayer identification, a common return, and a common challan for tax payment.

This will have the facility of reconciliation of transaction across different taxes — value added tax, income tax and central excise resulting in detecting tax evasion and plugging loopholes. Meanwhile, the report of a task force on business processes relating to GST will be put in the public domain by the end of this month for discussion. The task force, set up to put together legislation on GST, has already submitted an interim report.