Service tax is the tax imposed by the government on the service providers on certain transactions and it is borne by the consumers. It was introduced in the Finance Act of 1994, it is an indirect tax levied on the services. Any service provider or organization that provides the taxable service over nine lakh must register the service tax because it helps the Department of Service tax to identify assesses and keep on track of all the aspects of compliances. The service providers collect 15 percent of the consumers and pay the service tax to the government. The registration includes the filing of the returns; maintaining the compliances according to the service tax policy and to deposit the service tax. Those service providers who fail to register will have to pay penalty and interests. Except for the service providers in Jammu and Kashmir, all the other service providers in India must pay the tax to the government.
Tax registration
The Automation of Central excise and service tax (ACES) is software introduced by the Central Board of Excise tax and customs. This software makes the service better for the taxpayers because it includes the complete tax process like the registration, accounts, tax returns and refunds and other facilities.
To register the service tax, the taxpayer must register themselves in the Automation of Central excise and service tax by logging to the official site of the ACES that is www.aces.gov.in . In the homepage, the user has to select the Service Tax from the options given on the top of the page and select the ‘New user’ option. The selected option redirects them to the registration page. The user has to provide the basic information like the name of the unit, contact number, designation, email id and etc to register and submit the form. Within 24 hours of submission of the application, the user will receive the username and the password tn their registered email address.
Service Tax registration
After registering on the official website of ACES, the users can login to register themselves in the Service tax registration form by login with the help of the username and the password they received from the ACES. The service tax registration form is called the Form st-1 and the user has to fill all the details like the name, address, permanent account number, constitution of the applicant, contact information of the proprietor, category of the registrant.
Required Documents:
A self attested copy of the required documents must be submitted along with the service tax registration form.
A copy of the PAN card of the legal entity or proprietor registered and clear photograph of the applicant, and an identity proof. The proof can either be the Voter’s id, Driver’s license, Aadhaar card, Passport or any other identity proof along with the photo of the applicant that is issued by the public sector or state government or the central government. The document to establish the procession of the land to be registered, like a rental agreement or lease agreement, the ownership proof, no objection letter from the legal owner. They must submit the main bank account along with the list of Directors of the business or company, the AOA (Article of Association) and MOA (Memorandum of Association). Apart from these documents they have to produce the business transaction number that was given by the government department or other agencies like the IEC (Import export code), Sales tax number (VAT), CIN (Company Index number), BIN number (Customer registration), Central sales tax.
Registration Procedure
The service tax registration application form can be submitted online, but the new user has to create an account before filing the application form, that is the ACES account registration. The username and the customized password are the permanent account that helps them to access all the information regarding the service tax. After login, the assessee must select the St-1 form from the REG tab available on the web page. To open the application form, they have to click on the ‘fill st-1’. Once when the form is open, the applicant has to fill in all the details required in the form.
If the applicant provides more service or in more than one premises, they can even furnish those details in the same St-1 form by selecting the services offered option and by selecting all the services.
Division, Commissionerate and Range: The applicant must fill the details like the Division, commissionerate and range of the person with whom they have registered themselves. Most of the people have trouble in locating the division, commissionerate or range of the person with whom they are registered. So, those who find it difficult to identify can refer www.aces.gov.in/STASE/ui/jsp/common/statelocation.do . When applying for the online registration, the applicant must take a printout of the Acknowledgement slip and sign the slip and submit the copy of the St-1 form to the Commissionerate with whom they are registering. The address of the respective Commissionerate is also available on the link.
Issuing Registration
According to the Service Tax Rule of 1994, the ST-1 application form will be verified and validated by the Superintendent and provide the Service tax registration certificate to the applicant or they will send an intimation for the non-acceptance of the Service tax registration. Either of the two options must take place within two. The Service tax registration certificate is referred as ST-2 form and the applicant receive it in the manner they have opted while filling the form, either through the post or online. Those who have selected the online option can get the ST-2 form can obtain it from the homepage by selecting the REG tab and clicking on the view option and select the latest ST-2.
Along with it, the assessee will be given a 15 character number called the Service tax number, with which they have to quote their invoice.
Payment Procedure
The proprietorship and partnership companies that have collected the service tax must pay it to the government by the 5th of the following quarter, and the others must pay by the 5th of the following month. And the companies that collected more than one lakh rupees in the previous year and have made online payment can get an extra day to make their payment. The payment can be done in two ways, either through the online mode or through physical mode.
Online Mode: The taxpayer can make the online payment if through the net banking account with the any one of the banks specified by the department. They have to login to the page and provide the service tax number and then enter the captcha code and verify the details on the page. Then they have to select the Service tax field and select their service industry followed by the education cess field in the next table. After completing these procedures, they must identify the bank for which they have the net banking account and make the payment. Once when the payment is made by the assessee, they will receive an acknowledgment that indicates the identification number of the challans, which can to be produced while filing their service tax returns.
Physical mode: They have to download the GAR-7 challan from the site and make payment in the bank. The teller will stamp the identification number challan that contains the serial number along with the BSR code of the bank and the deposited date.
Author Bio: Anand Rajendran, CEO of Uptra.in, a leading provider of legal services, including company registration. He is the Head of Communications at Uptra Consultancy Services, India’s largest online legal services facilitator.
Helpful..Thanks Anand…