After the launch of the e-filing process for income tax returns, it is now the turn of excise and service tax departments.
The
finance ministry has made it mandatory for all assessees paying excise
and service tax of Rs 50 lakh and above, to pay the tax electronically
in the 2007-08 fiscal. Service tax officials said that the ministry on
Wednesday, launched the Electronic Accounting System in Excise and
Service Tax (Easiest).
The electronic method of filing tax and
returns is the most convenient method for the payment of excise and
service taxes, said the official. He also noted that the finance
ministry would eventually make e-payment mandatory for the filing of
all taxes and returns.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs
(CBEC) has appealed to businessmen to pay their tax dues on time and to
avoid any punitive action against them by the department.
The
new scheme, Easiest, has been introduced by the CBEC in association
with the principal chief controller of accounts, the Reserve Bank of
India and 28 scheduled banks. “The scheme will address the drawbacks or
flaws in the already existing accounting system. As per the existing
system, the tax payer has to manually file four copies of the same
challan.
However, with the Easiest system, the tax payer would
be required to only fill a single challan for the payment of Central
excise and service tax. Another official noted that Easiest used the
electronic environment for expeditious transmission of tax information
to ensure greater accuracy and reliability of tax payment data.