I am directed to refer to Ministry’s letter of even number dated the 20th June, 2001 (Annex) on the above subject and to state that the policy/procedure/guidelines in respect of grant of reward to Informers and Government servants contained in the said letter stand modified to the extent indicated below :-

The Revenue Department has extended the deadline by one month to November 25 for filing of service tax returns for the April-June quarter, as it has not been able to provide electronic return form in time. The earlier last date to file the return was October 25.

All Service Tax assessees are hereby informed that they will not be able to file ST 3 returns in ACES now and have to wait until the modified version of ST 3 Form is made available in a few weeks. Please revisit ACES website(http://www.aces.gov.in) for further information. Inconvenience caused is regretted.

Levy of Service Tax on Railway Passengers Travelling in AC Classes/First Class from 1-10-2012 – No Service Tax to be Levied on Tickets Issued Prior to 1-10-2012 – In Case of Cancellation of Tickets Issued on or after 1st October 2012, the Applicable Amount Including Service Tax to be Refunded by Railways

The Conference of the Chief Commissioners and Directors General of Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax will be held in New Delhi tomorrow. The Union Finance Minister, Shri P. Chidambaram will inaugurate the Conference and also interact with the tax officials in the open house discussions.

India has developed an Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) Programme consistent with World Customs Organization (WCO) SAFE Framework of Standards. The trade supply chain has become extremely complicated and vulnerable to external threats which led to an urgent need to have a system that ensures end to end supply chain security while ensuring faster release of goods. Authorized Economic Operator Programme has been developed by the WCO to standardize the procedure for this programme. Many Customs administrations globally have also adopted the same or similar programmes to ensure supply chain security.

A CBEC panel wants the new service tax regime, which is scheduled for implementation from July 1, be deferred by 3-4 months as more time is needed to put in place the required framework.

A ‘Negative List’ approach for taxation of services is being introduced in the current fiscal. Under the new approach, all services except those in the ‘Negative List’ or otherwise exempted, would come into the tax net. The new system will come into effect from 1st July, 2012.

The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has been able to achieve nearly 80.74% of Budget Estimate up-to the month of January, 2012 in the current fiscal year. At the present rate of growth, CBEC should be able to achieve the target of Rs.3,92,908 Crores.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee held discussions on ways to step up revenue collection for 2011-12 with top officials of Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) and Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) in Chennai. An official release said the meeting discussed steps for augmentation for revenue in the remaining part of the financial year.