Registration Procedure For Service Tax

Section 69 of the Finance Act, 1994 read with Rule 4 of the Service Tax Rules, 1994 prescribe the manner and form for registration as an assessee, of any person liable to pay service taxin accordance with the provisions of Section 68 of the Finance Act, 1994. Below set, in brief is the procedure for registration:

• An application for registration in Form ST-1 has to be made to the concerned Superintendent of Central Excise within 30 days from the date on which service tax becomes leviable. However, where a person has commenced his business for providing taxable services after the date when Service Tax is levied, the application for registration is to be made within 30 days from the date of commencement of business.
• For an assessee providing more than one taxable service, a single registration needs to be filed by him mentioning therein, all the taxable services provided by him.
• If taxable services are provided by the assessee from more than one premise, and has a centralized billing system at any one of such premises then he has the option to get registration for only one premise from where such centralized billing is done. On the other hand if taxable services are provided by the assessee from more than one premise, and he does not have a centralized billing system, he has to make a separate application for registration in respect of each of such premises.
• The assessee has to give some information like his name, address and the category of services rendered except in the case of registration of a Stockbroker. The Service Tax (Amendment) Rules, 2001, with effect from 16-7-2001, has inserted a new column No 2A in Form ST-1 for furnishing PAN Number by the Assessee. If PAN has not been allotted or applied for, the same is to be indicated.
• A certificate of registration in Form ST-2 shall be issued within 7 days from the date of receipt of the application in Form ST-1. However if the registration certificate is not granted within the 7-day period, the registration applied for shall be deemed to have been granted. In the latter case where registration is deemed to have granted a slight anomaly may arise owing to the non-allotment of registration number in the light of the fact that Circular No. V/DGST/30-Misc-29/2001/3674 dated September 18, 2003 read with the Service Tax Credit Rules, 2002 require all service providers providing taxable services to quote their registration number on their invoices.
• Every instance of transfer of business of a registered assessee to another would entail the obtaining of a fresh certificate of registration.
• Every registered assessee, who ceases to provide taxable service, for which he is registered, shall surrender his registration certificate immediately.
• The registration certificate issued to an assessee can be amended on various grounds namely change in address of business premises, change in name and style of firm etc.
• There is no minimum/threshold limit that is prescribed for registration.

It may be noted that Section 75 A of the Finance Act, 1994, providing for a penalty of Rs. 500/- to be imposed on such person who has failed to obtain a registration, being liable to pay service tax, is proposed to be omitted by the Finance Bill 2004. Rules For Payment Of Service Tax

• Service Tax is payable on the value of taxable services charged.
• Where the assessee is an individual or a proprietary firm or a partnership firm: The due date for payment of Service Tax is on or before 25th of the month immediately following that quarter when the value of taxable services is received.
• For other assessees: The due date for payment of Service Tax is on or before 25th of the month immediately following the month in which the value of taxable services is received.
• A Non-Resident Indian (NRI) or a person from outside India who is liable to pay Service Tax on taxable services rendered, but does not have any office in India, shall pay the Service Tax through any other person authorized by him.
• Where an assessee is unable to correctly estimate the actual amounts of Service Tax payable for any month or quarter, the assessee may make a request in writing to the Central Excise Officer to make a provisional assessment of tax on the basis of the amount that is deposited. The Central Excise Officer may, on receipt of such request, order the provisional assessment of tax.
• Service Tax has to be paid to the credit of the Central Government and the service tax, liable to be paid by the Assessee, shall be deposited in a bank designated by the Central Board of Excise and Customs in Form TR-6 or any manner prescribed by the Central Board of Excise and Customs.

Records Required To Be Maintained

The assessee is not required to maintain separate records for the purpose of service tax. However, the assessee is advised to maintain the following documents:

• A bill file, containing the bills in serial, issued to the clients in respect of taxable service rendered;
• Receipt, issued to the client in respect of payment received;
• A service tax register containing the details of the bills issued, payments received and service tax deposited;
• Proper records for all the credit notes issued to the clients;
• A list of all accounts, maintained in relation to service tax including memoranda received from branch offices, only at time of filing of return for the first time, is to be furnished to the Superintendent of Central Excise