The Central Board of Excise and Customs has asked the Reserve Bank of India to file annual information return on remittances exceeding Rs50 lakh

The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) will now use the annual information returns to detect tax evasion. So far, this tool was mainly used by the income tax department to check for tax evasion.

In a notification dated 15 February, CBEC has framed the Service Tax and Central Excise (Furnishing of Annual Information Return) Rules, 2016.

To begin with, it has asked the Reserve Bank of India to file annual information return on remittances exceeding Rs.50 lakh made by a service provider based in India for receipt of services from overseas entities.

It has also directed state electricity boards to file annual information return with respect to manufacturing units such as producing beyond a particular threshold and consuming certain levels of electricity.

This will help CBEC in detecting any central excise or service tax evasion by manufacturing units and service providers respectively.

M.S. Mani, senior director, Deloitte in India, said in a note that the notification indicates that the government is looking to use the annual information return route to detect cases of service tax and excise evasion. “The information so provided will enable the government to compare the same with the information provided by assessees and unearth cases of evasion and incorrect declarations,” he said.