04 January 2011
Central Government vide Service Tax (Amendment) Rules, 2010, has made following amendments in respect of payment of Service Tax and filing of Service Tax return with effect from April 1, 2010 –
Electronic payment of Service Tax has been made mandatory for assessees whose total Service Tax payment including utilization of CENVAT credit for the preceding financial year is Rs. 10 lakh or more as against the existing threshold of Rs. 50 lakh or more. Electronic filing of half-yearly return has been made mandatory for assessees whose total Service Tax payment including utilization of CENVAT credit in the preceding financial year is Rs. 10 lakh or more.
Notification No. 01/2010-Service Tax dated February 19, 2010
04 January 2011
At present, the effective rate of Service Tax is 10.3% on the value of the taxable service. The above effective rate comprises of Service Tax @10% payable on the “gross value of taxable service” Education Cess @ 2% on the service tax amount, and Secondary and Higher Education Cess @ 1% on the service tax amount.
e-payment of service tax: The service tax can be paid electronically. For this, the service taxpayer should have an account in any branch of the designated banks. For availing of the facility of e-payment, the service taxpayer shall obtain a user-ID and password from the designated bank in which he has the account. For e-payment, the service taxpayer should log on to the web-site of the bank with his user-ID and password. He should then choose the option of e-payment of service tax. On choosing this option, the service taxpayer would be guided to the e-payment portal wherein he would fill the challan for payment of service tax and would authorize payment of service tax by way of debit to his account. Thereafter, a copy of the acknowledgement would be generated for the records of the service taxpayer. Subsequently, the bank would generate copies of challan and send a copy each to the Pay and Accounts Officer (PAO) and the department.
PLEASE ALSO NOTED THAT:-
E-payment is mandatory for assesses who have paid service tax of Rs.10 lakhs or more including the amount paid by utilization of CENVAT credit, in the preceding financial year.(Refer Rule 6(2) of Service Tax Rules,1994). However, there is no bar for other assessees to pay their tax electronically. In other words, other assessees may also pay their service tax through e-payment, if they choose to do so.
REFER TO Notification No. 01/2010-Service Tax dated February 19, 2010
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