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WHAT ARE THE GUIDELINES TO BE FOLLOWED FOR STUFFING OF EXPORT CONTAINERS UNDER SUPERVISION OF CENTRAL EXCISE OFFICERS ?

Guidelines have been issued by Central Board of Excise and Customs from time to time through different Circulars, Notifications etc. for stuffing of export containers under supervision of Central Excise Officers. The same are compiled below and must be followed.

WHAT IS THE LIABILITY OF SERVICE TAX ON RECEIPT OF SERVICE FROM OVERSEAS ?

There are certain exporters who take services of Overseas Agents and in turn pay commission to them. Such exporters become liable to pay Service Tax on reverse charge method on import of service. Various Commissionerates of the Service Tax department have raised such demands for the period from 1.01.2005 or even earlier. Now the CBEC has decided to levy service tax only with effect from 18.04.2006 (i.e.) from the date of enactment of section 66-A of the Finance Act, 1994.

WHAT ARE THE FREQUENCY NORMS OF AUDIT FOR SERVICE TAX ASSESSES ?

Director General of Audit, New Delhi has prepared Service Tax Audit Manual, 2010. As per the guidelines, tax payers whose annual service tax payment (including cash and CENVAT) was Rs.3 crore or more in the preceding financial year may be subjected to mandatory audit each year. It is preferable that Audit of all such Units is done by using Computer Assisted Audit Program (CAAP) techniques. The frequency of audit for other taxpayers would be as per following norms:-

IS THERE ANY PROVISION FOR INTEREST FOR DELAYED PAYMENT OF REFUNDS?

If any duty/tax ordered to be refunded under section 11B(2) of Central Excise Act, 1944, to any applicant is not refunded within three months from the date of receipt of application, interest at the applicable rate shall be paid, subject to conditions laid down under section 11BB of the Central Excise Act, 1944. Also where an amount deposited by an appellant in pursuance of an order passed by the Commissioner (Appeals) or the Appellate Tribunal, under the first proviso to section 35F of the

WHAT IS RELEVANT DATE FOR CALCULATION OF LIMITATION PERIOD IN RESPECT OF FILING REFUND CLAIMS RELATING TO SERVICE TAX?

The �relevant date for the purpose of refund as per section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944 which is applicable to Service Tax also, is the date of payment of Service Tax. Thus, the limitation period of one year is to be calculated from the date of payment of the Service Tax

IS IT PERMISSIBLE TO PAY THE CUSTOM DUTY & INTEREST THEREON FROM DEPB FOR REGULARISATION OF SHORTFALL IN FULFILLMENT OF EXPORT OBLIGATION IN CASE OF EPCG LICENCE?

While the Custom duty can be paid from DEPB, the interest has to be paid in cash only. In this connection para 8 (v) of Custom Circular No. 26/2009-Custom date. 30.09.2009 is reproduced below :

�Para 5.14 of new Handbook of Procedures Vol. 1 (2009-14) provides that in the event of non-fulfillment of EO, the EPCG Authorization holder may pay duties of customs through the scrips issued under reward / DEPB scheme also. The interest on such duty and penalties , if any, however shall be paid in cash.

HOW THE EXPORT DOCUMENTS ARE PROCESSED?

In most cases the Shipping Bill is processed by the system on the basis of declaration made by the exporters without any human intervention. In other cases where the Shipping Bill is processed on screen by the Customs Officer, he may call for the samples, if required for confirming the declared value or for checking classification under the Drawback Schedule. He may also give any special instructions for examination of goods, it felt necessary.

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