Secure Financial Services

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THE CENTRAL EXCISE ACT, 1944

[Act No. 1 of 1944]



[24th February, 1944]

An Act to consolidate and amend the law relating to Central Duties of Excise



Whereas it is expedient to consolidate and amend the law relating to Central duties of excise on goods manufactured or produced in certain parts of India.

It is hereby enacted as follows:-

CHAPTER I

PRELIMINARY



SECTION 1. Short title, extent and commencement. - (1) This Act may be called the Central Excise Act, 1944.



(2) It extends to the whole of India.



(3) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint in this behalf.



SECTION 2. Definitions.— In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context, -



(a)


“Adjudicating authority” means any authority competent to pass any order or decision under this Act, but does not include the Central Board of Excise and Customs constituted under the Central Boards of Revenue Act, 1963 (54 of 1963), Commissioner of Central Excise (Appeals) or Appellate Tribunal;

(aa)


“Appellate Tribunal” means the Customs, Excise and Service Tribunal Tax constituted under section 129 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962);

(aaa)


"broker” or “commission agent” means a person who in the ordinary course of business makes contract for the sale or purchase of excisable goods for others;

(b)


“Central Excise Officer” means the Chief Commissioner of Central Excise, Commissioner of Central Excise, Commissioner of Central Excise (Appeals), Additional Commissioner of Central Excise, Joint Commissioner of Central Excise, Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise or Deputy Commissioner of Central Excise or any other officer of the Central Excise Department, or any person (including an officer of the State Government) invested by the Central Board of Excise and Customs constituted under the Central Boards of Revenue Act, 1963 (54 of 1963) with any of the powers of a Central Excise Officer under this Act.

(c)


“curing” includes wilting, drying, fermenting and any process for rendering an unmanufactured product fit for marketing or manufacture;

(d)


“excisable goods” means goods specified in the First Schedule and the Second Schedule to the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 (5 of 1986) as being subject to a duty of excise and includes salt;

Explanation - For the purposes of this clause, “goods “ includes any article, material or substance which is capable of being bought and sold for a consideration and such goods shall be deemed to be marketable.

(e)


factory” means any premises, including the precincts thereof, wherein or in any part of which excisable goods other than salt are manufactured, or wherein or in any part of which any manufacturing process connected with the production of these goods is being carried on or is ordinarily carried on;

(ee)


“Fund” means the Consumer Welfare Fund established under section 12C;

(f)


“manufacture” includes any process, -

i)

ii)

iii)


incidental or ancillary to the completion of a manufactured product;

which is specified in relation to any goods in the Section or Chapter notes of the First Schedule to the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 (5 of 1986) as amounting to manufacture; or

which, in relation to the goods specified in the Third Schedule, involves packing or repacking of such goods in a unit container or labelling or re-labelling of containers including the declaration or alteration of retail sale price on it or adoption of any other treatment on the goods to render the product marketable to the consumer;

and the word “manufacturer” shall be construed accordingly and shall include not only a person who employs hired labour in the production or manufacture of excisable goods, but also any person who engages in their production or manufacture on his own account;

(ff)


”National Tax Tribunal” means the National Tax Tribunal established under section 3 of the National Tax Tribunal Act, 2005;

(g)


“prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act;

(h)


“sale” and “purchase”, with their grammatical variations and cognate expressions, mean any transfer of the possession of goods by one person to another in the ordinary course of trade or business for cash or deferred payment or other valuable consideration;

(i)


Omitted

(j)


Omitted

(jj)


Omitted

(k)


“wholesale dealer” means a person who buys or sells excisable goods wholesale for the purpose of trade or manufacture, and includes a broker or commission agent who, in addition to making contracts for the sale or purchase of excisable goods for others, stocks such goods belonging to others as an agent for the purpose of sale.



SECTION 2A. References of certain expressions. — In this Act, save as otherwise expressly provided and unless the context otherwise requires, references to the expressions “duty”, “duties”, “duty of excise” and “duties of excise” shall be construed to include a reference to “Central Value Added Tax (CENVAT)”.

Service Tax Return Preparer Scheme, 2009
[Notification No. 7/2009 - S.T. dated 03-02-2009
as amended by Notification No. 44/2010- S. T. date
d 20-07-2010]
In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section
(1) of section 71 of the Finance Act, 1994 (32 of
1994), the Central Board of Excise and Customs here
by frames the following scheme, namely : -
1. Short title, commencement and application-
(1
)
This scheme may be called the Service Tax
Return Preparer Scheme, 2009.
(a) It shall come into force from the date of i
ts publication in the Official Gazette.
(b) Save as otherwise provided in the Scheme, i
t shall be applicable to all assessees.
2. Definitions.
-
In this Scheme, unless the context otherwise requi
res,-
a) “Act" means the Finance Act, 1994 (32 of 1994);
b) "Board" means the Central Board of Excise and C
ustoms constituted under the Central
Boards of Revenue Act, 1963 (54 of 1963);
c) "Partner Organisation" means an organisation or
agency selected by the Board and with
whom an agreement has been entered into by the Boar
d or the Resource Centre authorising
it to act as Partner Organisation under this Scheme
;
d) "Resource Centre" means the Directorate General
of Service Tax or any other Directorate,
as the case may be, designated by the Board to act
as the Resource Centre under this
Scheme;
e) “Return” means the return required to be furnis
hed by any person under section 70 of the
Act;
f) “rules” means the Service Tax Rules, 1994;
g) "Service Tax Return Preparer" means any individ
ual who has been issued a Service Tax
Return Preparer Certificate and a unique identifica
tion number under clause (9) of paragraph
4 of this Scheme by the Partner Organisation to car
ry on the profession of preparing the
return in accordance with the provisions of said Sc
heme;
h) Words and expressions used herein but not define
d and defined in the Act shall have the
meanings respectively assigned to them in the Act.
3. Educational qualification for ServiceTax Retur
n Preparers
-
Any individual who has successfully
completed education up to senior secondary level, u
nder 10+2 education system, shall be eligible to
become a Service Tax Return Preparer.
4. Enrollment, training and certification to perso
ns to act as Service Tax Return Preparers
-
(1)
For the purpose of enrolment, training and certific
ation to a person to act as Service Tax Return
Preparer the Partner Organization shall invite app
lications from-
(a) any person who has been issued Tax Return Prep
arer Certificate under the Tax Return Prepare
Scheme Scheme, 2006, framed under sub-section (1) o
f section 139B of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of
1961); or
(b) any other Indian citizen having educational qu
alification referred to in paragraph 3 and desi
res to
act as Service Tax Return Preparer:
[********]
1
(2)
[********]
2
(3) The person applying to act as Service Tax Retu
rn Preparer shall indicate in the application form
the
preferences for centres where at training may be im
parted to him;
(4) The Partner Organisation shall, in accordance
with the criteria and conditions laid down by the
Resource Centre with the prior approval of the Boa
rd, carry out the screening of the applications so
received and select the persons to appear in a test
for their enrollment;
(5) The Partner Organisation shall carry out a tes
t, if required, for enrollment of persons who have
been
selected on screening;
(6) The Partner Organisation shall enroll the perso
ns who qualify for enrollment separately for each
centre;
(7) The Partner Organisation shall train the perso
ns so enrolled in accordance with the curriculum
provided by the Resource Centre;
(8) The Partner Organisation shall, after completio
n of training, conduct an examination of the enroll
ed
persons in accordance with the procedure as laid do
wn by the Resource Centre;
(9) The Partner Organisation shall issue a Service
Tax Return Preparer Certificate and a unique
identification number to the persons who are declar
ed as successful in the examination so conducted;
5. Preparation of and furnishing the service ta
x return by the Service Tax Return Preparer.
-
(1
)
Any assessee, may at his option furnish his return
after getting it prepared through a Service Tax
Return Preparer:
Provided
that an assessee shall not furnish a revised servic
e tax return under rule 7B of the rules
through a Service Tax Return Preparer unless he has
furnished the original return through such or any
other Service Tax Return Preparer:
(2) The Service Tax Return Preparer shall prepare
and furnish the return to the Superintendent of
Central Excise having jurisdiction over the assesse
e, or to such other person as may be directed by th
e
Resource Centre with the approval of the Board and
hand over the acknowledgement of having furnished
the return to the concerned eligible person.
6. Duties and obligations of assessee-
An assesee opting to furnish his return under this
Scheme
shall-
(a) give his consent to any Service Tax Return
Preparer to prepare and furnish his return;
(b) before verifying and signing the return, ens
ure that the facts mentioned in the return are true
and correct;
7. Duties and obligations of the Service Tax Retu
rn Preparer-
The Service Tax Return Preparer
shall-
(a) prepare the return with due diligence;
(b) affix his signature on the return prepa
red by him;
(c) furnish the return as specified in sub-
paragraph (2) of paragraph 5;
(d) hand over a copy of the return to the pe
rson whose return is prepared and furnished by him;
(e) retain a copy of the acknowledgment of
having furnished the return;
(f) in respect of returns prepared and fur
nished by him maintain record of the following, nam
ely:-
i)
the name of assessees whose returns have been prepa
red and furnished by
him during the month;
ii)
the Service Tax Code(STC) number and premises code
of such assessees;
iii)
period for which return is filed;
iv)
date of furnishing the return;
v)
authority with whom return is filed;
vi)
amount of tax payable;
vii)
amount of tax paid;
viii)
the fee charged and received by him
(g) furnish a statement of particulars mentio
ned in item (vi) for every month on or before the
seventh day of the immediately f
ollowing month to the Resource Centre.
8. Selection and responsibilities of the Partner Or
ganisation-
(1) The Board shall select a Partner Organisation t
o partner with the Resource Centre for
implementation of the Scheme.
(2) The Partner Organisation shall function under
the overall guidance and control of the Resource
Centre and follow the instructions issued to it by
the Resource Centre from time to time about
implementation of the scheme.
(3) The Partner Organisation shall be responsible
to carry out the activities which it is required to
carry out under paragraph 4 of this Scheme.
(4) The Partner Organisation shall maintain the pr
ofile of the Service Tax Return Preparers during
their training and monitor their performance as Se
rvice Tax Return Preparers.
(5) The Partner Organisation shall perform its fun
ctions to the satisfaction of the Resource Centre.
(6) The Board may, on the recommendation of the Re
source Centre, terminate the agreement with
the Partner Organisation and may -
(a) enter into an agreement with any other Partner
Organisation; or
(b) assign its functions to the Resource Centre,
if in its opinion, the Partner Organisation has fai
led to perform its functions properly.
9. Incentive to Service Tax Return Preparers-
An assessee shall pay a fee as may be mutually
agreed upon between an assessee and the Service Ta
x Return Preparer. The Board recommends , as a
yardstick, a fee of rupees one thousand rupees per
return prepared by the Service Tax Return Prepare
r.
10. Maintenance of particulars relating to Service
Tax Return Preparers-
(1) The Resource Centre
shall, in relation to each Service Tax Return Prep
arer, shall itself maintain the particulars, or dir
ect
the Partner Organisation to maintain such particul
ars, which may be necessary to assess his
performance.
(2) The Resource Centre may issue instructions to
the Service Tax Return Preparers from time to time.
11. Withdrawal of certificate given to the Service
Tax Return Preparer
-
(1) The Resource Centre
may warn a Service Tax Return Preparer for the defi
ciencies in his work and his misconduct, and may
proceed for cancellation of his certificate in any
one or more of the following circumstances, namely,
-
i) if he fails to give a copy of the return to the
assessee;
ii) if he prepares a return but fails to affix his
signature thereon;
iii) if he fails to furnish his name and unique id
entification number in the return prepared by him;
iv) if he fails to enter any information made avail
able to him by the assessee, correctly in the retur
n
prepared by him;
v) if he makes repeated mistakes relating to compu
tation of service tax in the returns prepared by
him;
vi) if he is engaged in any financial irregularity
, forgery or fraud;
vii) if he willfully attempts to furnish incorrect
information in return;
viii) if he is involved in any other irregularity
which, in the opinion of the Chief Commissioner or
the
Commissioner of Central Excise, is grave in nature;
ix) if he fails to comply with the directions issu
ed by the Resource Centre from time to time;
x) if he fails to upgrade his skills as required b
y the Resource Centre from time to time.
(2) A Service Tax Return Preparer may continue
to act as such, unless-
i) the Certificate issued to him under this Scheme
is suspended or withdrawn by the
Resource Centre; or
ii) this Scheme is withdrawn by the Board.
12. Responsibilities and functions of the Resource
Centre-
(1) The Resource Centre shall be
responsible for day to day administration of the Sc
heme.
(2) The functions of the Resource Centre shall incl
ude-
(i) to specify, with prior approval of the Board,
(a) the number of persons to be enrolled during a
financial year for training to act as
Service Tax Return Preparers;
(b) the number of centres for training and their
location where at training to be
imparted during a financial year;
(c) the number of persons to be trained at each c
entre for training during a
financial year;
(ii) to specify the curriculum and all other mat
ters relating to the training of Service Tax Return
Preparers;
(iii) maintain the particulars relating to the Se
rvice Tax Return Preparers as required in paragraph
10 of this Scheme;
(iv) any other function which is assigned to it b
y the Board for the purposes of implementation of
the Scheme.
___________________________________________________
_____________________________
1 & 2-
Omitted vide Notification No. 44/2010 – S. T. date
d 20th July 2010.