Procedure for Online E- Registration of Service Tax. Find Indirect Tax Online E- Registration of Service Tax, Today We are Providing Full Procedure For Service Tax E-Registration. Practical Training in Indirect Taxes: Online Registration, E-Filing and E-Payment of Service Tax. This Practical Training Guide For Procedure for Online E- Registration of Service Tax is Very Useful for CA Articles. CA Final Students, Tax Consultants and New Chartered Accountants. So Now you can Scroll Down Below and See Full Procedure for Online E- Registration of Service Tax And Short Description of Service Tax For CA Final and CA IPCC Students.
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Introduction
1.1 Practical training constitutes a vital element of the Chartered Accountancy Course. A USP of Chartered Accountancy Course, practical training contributes substantially towards making Chartered Accountants the doyens of the accounting profession. Considering the significance of practical training, Board of Studies has decided to publish a series of articles/write-ups on practical training; ‘Effective Practical Training: Foundation for Professional Excellence’ the article published in June issue of this Journal, being the first in such series.
The first article delved into the annals of practical training, its relevance and significance in the current
Scheme of education and the way forward. The role of practical training in achieving the various components of professional competence as envisaged by the International Education Standards was also discussed in some length in the said article.
Categories of work experience
1.2 Having discussed the evolution, progression and prospect of the practical training in the last article, we now move forward to the various training areas or categories of work experience under the practical training. The following categories of work experience have been enumerated in the Training Guide published by Board of Studies:
Accounting
Auditing (including internal audit)
Taxation (Direct and Indirect)
Corporate and Allied Laws
Management Services (including services in the field of Financial Management like business valuation,
Mergers and acquisition, portfolio managements, equity research etc.)
Information Technology
Other areas, if any
In this write-up, the second in series, we will discuss the categories of work experience relating to Taxation –Indirect Taxes.
Indirect taxes and practical training
Indirect taxes vis a vis procedural compliances
2.1 Unlike direct taxes – income-tax being the most significant one – which are majorly levied by Central
Government, indirect taxes are levied both by Central and State Governments. Further, whereas there are only two significant direct taxes namely income-tax and wealth tax, there are a plethora of indirect taxes in India which make the indirect tax structure very complex. For instance, a manufacturer who imports his raw materials as also procures them indigenously (both intra State and inter- State) and also uses certain services in the manufacturing process is exposed to multiple indirect taxes like excise duty, customs duty, central sales tax, State-Level VAT, service tax etc. but has to pay only one or two direct taxes viz., income-tax and/or wealth tax. Indirect tax laws entail a lot of procedural compliances and since businesses, at a time, have todeal with multitude of such taxes, the number of compliances increases manifold.
2.2 Practical application of the concepts learned through theoretical education always augments the learning process. In fact, in case of tax laws involving procedures, the importance of practical application outdoes the theoretical learning. It is for this reason that the practical training assumes critical significance in case of indirect tax laws since they involve a slew of procedures. Nowadays, submission of various documents as also the payment of taxes has been made online by the Government in most of the indirect tax laws.
2.3 Under the present scheme of education and training, when an Intermediate (IPC) student joins practical training, he has had a limited exposure to indirect taxes in Part II of Paper 4: Taxation. The syllabus of Part II: Indirect Taxes includes procedures like payment of service tax and filing of service tax returns. Though a student joining practical training is conversant with the nitty-gritty of theoretical concepts of such topics, he can understand the finer practical details only when he himself e-files a document or makes an e-payment for a client while undergoing practical training. Therefore, a student who has done such e-filings during his practical training will be better equipped to understand and resolve the issues being faced in such activities.
Progression in nature of assignments
2.4 As a student gradually progresses in the course from Intermediate (IPC) to Final level, he should also
Ideally move ahead in terms of assignments under each category of work experience. For instance, in case of indirect taxes, a student can gain experience in preparation and filing of returns/other documents in the initial stages of training. In the next stage, he can focus on computation of tax liability by using the conceptual knowledge of provisions like classification, valuation etc. and during the tail end of training, he can enrich his experience by dabbling into tax planning, drafting of appeals etc.
Detailed content of work to be performed under indirect tax laws
2.5 As regards indirect taxes like central excise duty, service tax, customs duty, central sales tax and State VAT, the work experience includes the following:
Reading and understanding of the tax files of the clients
Applying for registration including on-line registration
Payment of taxes including e-payment
Preparation and filing, including e-filing, of returns and periodic statements
Computation and payment of interest on delayed payment of taxes
Preparation and filing of refund claims
Computation of assessable value of excisable goods and excise duty payable thereon
Computation of assessable value of imported and export goods and customs duty payable thereon
Computation of taxable value of services and service tax payable thereon
Answering routine indirect tax related queries of clients
Accounting for indirect taxes
Participation in tax planning
Assisting in drafting of appeals, reply to show cause notices, opinions on queries raised by clients and other relevant documents
Filing of appeals
Assisting in representation before Adjudication and Appellate Authorities
2.6 The focus of this write-up is online application for service tax registration, e-filing of service tax return
and e-payment of service tax. The statutory provisions relating to service tax registration are covered in
section 69 of Finance Act, 1994 read with rule 4 of Service Tax Rules, 1994 and Service Tax (Registration of Special Category of Persons) Rules, 2005. Provisions relating to furnishing of service tax returns are mainly covered in section 70 of Finance Act, 1994 read with rule 7, 7B and 7C of Service Tax Rules, 1994. Payment of service tax is dealt in section 68 of Finance Act, 194 read with rule 6 of Service Tax Rules, 1994. The procedure for such on-line application for registration, e- filing and e-payment has been explained in CBEC’s Circular No. 956/17/201 CX dated 28.09. 2011 which has been discussed in ensuing paragraphs.
Automation of Central Excise and Service Tax (ACES)
What is ACES ?
3.1 Automation of Central Excise and Service Tax (ACES) is the e-governance initiative by Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance. It is one of the Mission Mode Projects (MMP) of the Government of India under National e-Governance Plan (NeGP). It is a software application which aims at improving tax-payer services, transparency, accountability and efficiency in the indirect tax administration in India. This application is a web-based & workflow-based system that has automated all major procedures in central excise and service tax like registration, returns, accounting, refunds, dispute resolution, audit, provisional assessment, export claims, intimations and permissions.
3.2 ACES aims at reducing physical interface of the business community with the departmental officers and to provide a transparent and paper-less business environment with improved taxpayer services delivered through an automated process. ACES is also a valuable platform for a smooth and successful transition to the proposed GST regime and it provides the bedrock for a modern e-governance-based indirect tax administration in India
Services offered under ACES
3.3 Presently, the following services are offered to the assessees under ACES:
Online registration of central excise and service tax assessees including online amendments;
Electronic filing of central excise and service tax returns;
Electronic filing of claims, permissions & intimations submitted by assessees in the course of business with the Department;
Instant e-acknowledgement of documents with an Unique Document Identification Number;
View, file and track the status of documents filed online;
Processing of claims, permissions & intimations filed by the assessee;
Online Messages/Alerts to users on business-related matters;
Automated generation of various reports
Audit Module involving selection of units and tracking of audit results
Online filing of reply to show cause notice
Online filing of application for provisional assessment
Online filing of refund claims
Online filing of select export related documents
Services covered under the ACES Application are offered free of cost to the users throughout India.
ACES Modules
3.4 The ACES application has interface for central excise and service tax assessees as well as for Central Excise and Service Tax Departmental Officers. It is divided into the following modules:
Access Control of Users (ACL)
Registration (REGN): Registration of assessees of central excise & service tax including on-line amendment
Returns (RET): Electronic filing of central excise & service tax returns
CLI: Electronic filing of claims, intimations and permissions by assessees and their processing by the departmental officers
Refund (REF): Electronic filing of refund claims and their processing
Provisional Assessment (PRA): Electronic filing of request for provisional assessment and its processing by the departmental officers
Dispute Settlement Resolution (DSR): Show cause notices, personal hearing memos, adjudication orders, appellate and related processes
Audit Module
Assessee Running Account
Export Module for processing export related documents
System Requirements for ACES
3.5 To use ACES, following systems requirements are recommended:
Processor: Intel Pentium III and higher
RAM: 256 MB and higher
HDD: 80 GB and more
Web Browser: IE 6.0 and above, Netscape 6.2 and above
MS Excel 2003 and above for using offline utilities
Sound Card, Speakers/Headphones, Colour Monitor for using Learning Management Systems (LMS)
Online application for service tax Registration
To transact business on ACES, a user has to first register himself/herself with ACES through a process called “Registration with ACES”. This registration is not a statutory registration as envisaged in Acts/Rules governing service tax but helps the application in recognizing the bona fide users. Described below are steps for taking service tax registration by a new assessee, non-assessee and a Large Tax Payer Unit (LTU).
4.2 New Assessee
The user needs to log onto the system, through internet at http://www.aces.qov.in. He/she chooses the Service Tax button from the panel appearing on the top of the webpage.
Clicks the button “New Users Click here to Register with ACES” in the Log-in screen that appears after clicking Service Tax button
Fills in and submits the form “Registration with ACES”, by furnishing a self-chosen user ID and e-mail User ID, once chosen is final and cannot be changed by the assessee in future.
The system will check for availability of the chosen User ID and then generate a password and send it by e-mail, mentioned by him/her in the Form.
ACES provides assistance of “Know your location code” for choosing correct jurisdictional office.
The user then re-logs-in and proceeds with the statutory registration with service tax, by filling-in Form ST-1 by clicking the “Reg” link in the Menu bar that appears on the top of the screen. It is mandatory to use the PAN allotted to the business entity to be registered. If the applicant has applied for PAN, he can be issued a temporary registration number and after obtaining PAN, he should amend the registration form online and insert the PAN, after which a new PAN-based registration number will be issued to the assessee. For security reasons, the password should be changed immediately.
The system instantaneously generates an acknowledgement number after which the registration request goes to the jurisdictional Superintendent. If the department needs any clarification, the registration applications can be sent back by the department to the applicants. Similarly, before registration certificate is issued, the applicant can also withdraw his/her application.
Depending on the instructions in force, service tax assessees are required to submit certain documents along with a signed copy of the registration application to the department for verification. CBEC’s order No. 2/2011 ST dated 13.12.2011 has prescribed following documents that are required to be submitted by the person who has made an application for registration:
Copy of Permanent Account Number (PAN)
Proof of Residence
Constitution of the Applicant.
Power of Attorney in respect of authorised person (s).
After verification, the Superintendent of Service Tax issues the Registration Certificate. However, in case of request for centralized registration, the Commissioner of Service Tax approves the registration. In either case, if the requisite documents are not received within a period of 15 days, the registration application is rejected by the department as incomplete. After the approval for issuance of a Registration Certificate is given by the competent authority, a message to this effect is sent to the assessees electronically. The assessee can view and take a print-out of this. Depending on the option chosen by the assessee, the signed copy of the RC can be sent by post or can be collected by assessee in person.
While submitting registration form, if the assessee makes a mistake in choosing a wrong jurisdiction (Commissionerate/Division/Range), ACES provides a facility to the Superintendent to forward the application to the correct jurisdictional officer to issue registration and a message to this effect is sent to the assessee for information.
The registration number is in 15-digit format as under: For-PAN based Assessees: 1-10 digits – PAN of the Assessee, 11-12 digits -ST (Service Tax), 13-15 – Systems generated alphanumeric serial number For non-PAN based assessees: 1-4 digits TEMP, 5-10 Systems generated alpha numeric number, 11-12 SD (Service Tax), 13-15 – Systems generated alphanumeric serial number
4.3 Non-Assessee
This category of registration is given in ACES to any individual, firm or company which requires to transact with the Central Excise or Service Tax Department, though not an assessee such as (a) merchant exporter, (b) co-noticee, (c) refund applicant, (d) persons who have failed to obtain ST registration as required under the law and against whom the Department has initiated proceedings and (e) persons who are required to tender any payment under CE/ST Act/Rules. Non-assessees are not required to file any tax returns.
Where such persons desire to seek non-assessee registration they follow same steps as in case of new assesseeexcept that while choosing the registration form they have to choose and fill in the non-assessee form.
In case the assessee is taking such registration for claiming any refund or rebate it is mandatory to furnish his/her valid PAN.
A non-assessee registration can also be done by the designated officer of the Commissionerate, on behalf of the non-assessee.
4.4 Large Tax Payer Unit (LTU) Assessee/Client
The consent form will have to be submitted manually by the New LTU assessees to the jurisdictional LTU office which will be processed off line.
The approved consent form will be uploaded by the competent officer of the Group LTU (GLTU) into ACES.
Any new unit of an existing LTU, which applies for registration with ACES will be automatically attached with the LTU Commissionerate based upon PAN details in the registration form.
As soon as the new or existing unit is attached with the LTU Commissionerate, a suitable intimation will be automatically sent by the ACES to the existing jurisdictional Commissionerate and the pending items of work will be transferred to the LTU Commissionerate.
Important points to remember:
The user ID once selected will be permanent and cannot be changed. However, it is desirable to frequently change passwords
The user ID should be of 6-12 alphanumeric characters, no special character such as ! @ # $ % * & ( ) + or spaces except underscore “ – ” shall be allowed.
New assessee seeking registrations under service tax will also submit to the jurisdictional Range officer, a printout of the application form submitted online duly signed by the authorized signatory along with required documents.
Assessees should note that the e-mail ID is furnished to the department in writing, and they will be responsible for all communications to and from this email ID. After registration with the ACES, assessees, on their own, can modify their registration details online, including their e-mail ID.
In the interest of security and data protection, assessees should change their passwords regularly and not share it with unauthorized persons. In case of any dispute, the person whose user ID and password has been used to access the application will be held liable for the action and any other consequences
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