Service Tax Amendments 2013

Being an Indian citizen, if you provide a taxable service, you would be liable for paying a certain amount of service tax to the government. Once you register under service tax, you would be called an assessee. Failing to pay your service tax returns on time could land you in major legal troubles. Even a slight mistake in paperwork can create problems for you. Service tax laws are complex and amendments are made every so often. You need to keep yourself updated with the recent changes so you can avoid the pitfalls.

According to a recent speech by the Finance Minister, there are around 17,00,000 registered assessees, but only around 7,00,000 individuals file their service tax returns. As far as these numbers suggest, more than half of the registered assessees have stopped filing their returns. It is not possible to go after each one of them. Instead of hunting them down, the government has taken a different approach. The Finance Ministry has taken steps to motivate tax defaulters to pay their due taxes.

To encourage tax defaulters to pay service tax, the government has introduced a one-time scheme called Voluntary Compliance Encouragement Scheme or VCES. Defaulters may take advantage of the scheme, provided they file truthful declaration of their service tax dues since 1^st October, 2007 and make the payments in one or two installments within the deadline. If tax defaulters come forward and voluntarily file their due tax returns under the VCES scheme, they will not have to face the legal consequences that come with not paying taxes. Things like penalty, interest and other serious consequences will be waived. 

Due Date for Service Tax Return Filing

If you have registered for service tax and have been assigned a service tax registration number, you would be legally responsible for filing service tax return on a half yearly basis. Once you register for service tax, you would be known as an assessee. You would be liable for paying service tax before the due date even if you have not provided any taxable service during that period of time. For the year of 2013, the deadline for filing service tax returns was as it is mentioned:

·         For the period of April 13 to September 13, the due date was 25^th October 2013

·         For the period of October to March 14, the due date is 25^th April 2014

Though service tax returns are filed on half yearly basis, payment of the service tax that is received by the service provider must be deposited to the government on a monthly or a quarterly basis.

You must file the service tax return in the Form ST-3 or ST-3A. There are other specifications that you need to learn when filing service tax returns. If you are at a loss for how you should go about it, consider hiring the services of a company that provides tax related assistance.

Get to Know More about Service Tax Payments

The idea of paying taxes is not something that excites us. However, this is something that we need to do. Regardless of what a great inconvenience paying taxes is, it is our duty as citizens of this country to pay whatever we owe to the government as taxes. If you fail to pay the amount you are supposed to pay as service tax, you would have to face serious legal consequences. Those, who fail to make their service tax payment, may have to pay fine. In fact some of the biggest tax scandals also lead to jail time. 

Who should pay service tax?

You are liable to pay service tax if you provide any of the specified taxable services. You should know that service tax is an indirect tax. That is why the burden of this type of taxes has to be borne by the one who receives such services. However, it is the responsibility of the service provider to file the taxes to the appropriate government authorities.

Taxes can be complicated. When filing taxes, you need to make sure you are fully informed about what you are doing. You need to follow the right procedure. That is why you must gather as much knowledge as you can about tax payments.

What You Must Know About Service Tax Returns

Service tax returns can be received only when an assessee files for the same. The filing has to be done within the mentioned due date.

God works in mysterious ways and so does the government authorities associated with levies and duties. This is to say that one never knows what is to befall them when, where or, how as far as matters relating to paying these essentials and everything related to the same are concerned. Nevertheless, armed with adequate information about this subject, payers of duties, especially the ones who have recently qualified to make such imperative contributions can manage to sail through the process and procedures without somersaulting on possible hurdles and obstacles. Basically, any assessee is needed to be thorough about two main processes; one is about paying the levies and the other is about filing service tax returns. 

Till date people have mostly been concerned about the former and subjected the latter to a great degree of negligence. What these assessees don’t realize is that, such negligence can be met with severe penalties mostly in the form of fines that can amount to around ten thousand rupees or, more depending upon variable factors. Besides being a punishable offence once neglected, there are certain other aspects that assessees must enlighten themselves with regarding this subject. Here are a few of these aspects that can help assessees begin their understanding about returns per se. 

• To begin with, all people who pay taxes are qualified to file returns.
• Not making the necessary filing can amount to penalties in the form of fines.
• By Rule 7 of service tax rules and amended by Notification No. 43/2011 – ST dated 25/08/2011, it is now mandatory to file the same electronically.
• It is crucial to abide by the dates of completing the procedure, not doing which can again invite penalties in the form of fines.
• The dates are usually mentioned clearly in the websites that are associated with offering information about all matters of taxation.
• If a certain service provider offers two or, more than two services, a single return can be filed for all.
• In case of any error in the detailed offered in the file, the revised version can be submitted within 90 days of the earlier submission.

The author of this article is a highly qualified and sought-after tax consultant to both individuals and small entrepreneurs. The author suggests concerned individuals to keep abreast with important information like how to pay service tax, etc. For more information about service tax returns, he recommends you to visit myservicetax.in.

Is Service Tax Amnesty Scheme an All-Inclusive Solution

There was a lot of happiness and thrill among a trail of defaulters of duties when the voluntary compliance scheme was introduced for the year of 2013. Putting it very simply, this scheme is designed ensure maximum recovery of unpaid dues which can fuse a whole lot of money in the treasury of the Indian government. At the same time, the benefits of the scheme are such that it allows massive benefits to the defaulters in the form of granting relief from imposition of additional fines and interests in the entire due amount along with freedom from the threat of being imprisoned. 

However, very unfortunately, the service tax amnesty scheme is not all inclusive. There are a number of aspects in the scheme that should be considered by all enthusiastic evaders before getting too happy with the announcement of the plan. To begin with, this plan is not applicable to those who have audit imposed on them or, have filed returns without paying the tax in the first place. Secondly, this scheme is applicable for dues amassed during the period of 01.10.2007 to 31.12.2012 and has to be filed by 31.12.2013. Filing after this date will amount to the usual penalties that are never too palatable by defaulters in general.

What Can You Do to Sail Through Service Tax Audit

Service tax audit once imposed cannot be avoided at any cost. However, one can make the process easier to live through by following certain guidelines on compliance.

Pinch and launder as much as you wish; hide and suppress as much as you want; but when the eyes of the sovereign authority falls on dramatic misappropriation, be assured, there is not much you can do but wish upon a falling star for pardon, because the government is sure to make you pay for good. Evasion of duties is a criminal offence that can amount from mild to severe penalties depending upon the nature of evasion, the time period involved and the amount due. When the authority suspects that a certain assessee is involved in non-payment, the concerned individual / entity is slapped with service tax audit. 

The procedure involves a team of appointed professionals to visit the premises of the entity and assess the records of the same thoroughly and completely to determine what the former has been into hiding. The penalties are awarded to the guilty after ascertaining their nature of default which includes complete evasion or, partial evasion where the non-compliant party pays only a certain small part of the due amount. From imposition of a huge amount of fine and interest to cancellation of license or both anything can be expected as an outcome of the assessment. While there is not much that can be done about the outcomes, one can always ensure that further complications are not generated as the procedure is in progress.

For this, the assessee will have to ensure that they do not cause any deliberate problems like hiding figures or, documents or even making any other attempt to thwart the duties of the professionals. If such dramatic obstacles are created by the former, the amount of penalties that can be given out as a result can be far more than what would have been due. Allowing the professionals to work their way and extending complete cooperation is the only way to sail through the process of assessment. Trying to outsmart the attending team will only amount to further difficulties. Considering the fact that trying to seek amnesty through the process is also an option, complete compliance should be embraced as the only route to some relief.