Whether the yearly ‘declaration’ filed, by a small scale manufacturer can be treated as a ‘return’ under Sec. 32E(1) of the Central Excise Act.

(a) Whether the yearly ‘declaration’ filed, by a small scale manufacturer can be treated as a ‘return’ under Sec. 32E(1) of the Central Excise Act. Answer: Yes. As discussed supra. A return of production, clearance and duty paid in the prescribed manner, is a statutory requirement. In the absence of a specific reference in Section 32E to ER1/ER3 i.e. monthly/quarterly returns prescribed under Rule 12 of the Central Excise Rules, since the ‘declaration’ filed by a small scale manufacturer also contains the basic particulars of estimated production and clearances though not the duty ...