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.

How Easy Can Service Tax Deposit Be

Service tax deposit can now be made through online medium. This has made the process far easier than ever before.

The days of paper work are long past. Natural forest resources of Earth simply cannot handle the requirements of the human race that is running way past a herculean eight billion. Keeping track and record of transactions, payments, receipts etc through manual paper filing is practically an impossibility that not many would like to continue with. Even the traditional rigid governmental procedures of India are beginning to comprehend the dismal consequences of paperwork considering the fact that about a seventh of the world population resides within our restricted boundaries. Dramatic changes in the thinking of the geniuses behind the desk have shown in the form of appreciable outcomes in the one of the most important aspects of the system that can be named as taxation. 

Till very recent times, eligible entities had to make service tax deposit through the manual methods which involved collecting a couple of forms or, more from the concerned vendors, filling it up without mistakes and dropping the same along with the cheques in the registered banks to complete the procedure. Following up is crucial as far as payment of duties is concerned, which again is quite difficult in the traditional manual method. However, at present, the government has ensured E filing of payments which has nullified the requirement of any form of paperwork whatsoever. Here, the concerned assessee is required to log in to the respective website, input their required details, fill in an e form and make a simple bank transfer to complete the payment process.

This is a matter of minutes and can be done from the comfort of one’s own home / office. Tracking of the payment through online medium at the same time, is completely hassle free. An even greater step towards the attempts at complete removal of paperwork from the world of taxation is the move made by the government to convert all filing of returns from manual procedures to electronic. This is to say that, from now on, only E filing of returns will be acceptable and none others. Learning the online method of tax payment is not difficult. Referring to quality websites can help in removing all doubts and confusion about the same.