The minimum threshold limit for Settlement Commission(Customs and Central Excise) for adjudicating on cases related to indirect tax disputes has been raised from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 3 lakh from June 2007. |
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"Anyone who has been slapped with a showcause notice, with a tax liability of Rs 3 lakh or beyond can approach the Settlement Commission, provided the case is not pending in an Appellate Tribunal", said Sunipa Basu, vice president of Settlement Commission(Customs and Central Excise), Kolkata. |
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However, the concerned individual or company cannot question the legality of the commission's decision. |
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E-filing of returns have been made mandatory, effective from June 2007 for all those paying excise or customs duties of Rs 50 lakh and beyond, she stated. |
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The powers of the Settlement Commission(Customs and Central Excise) have been curtailed. |
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Giving details of this matter, Basu said cases of outright smuggling and evasion have been kept out of the purview of the commission. Basu was speaking on the occasion of a seminar on Central Excise, Customs, Service Tax and VAT: Laws and Procedures, organised by Calcutta Management Association(CMA) under the patronage of Patton International Limited. |
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In Customs, the deemed value has been replaced by transaction value, which implies that tax will be imposed on the price that one pays for the goods, Basu informed reporters. |
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Speaking on the occasion, RK Mishra, additional commissioner, central excise, Kolkata referred to the system of Risk Management, introduced last year. This system has allowed a large number of goods to be cleared without scrutiny. |
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"It is not feasible to do a thorough check on all the goods and so now the focus is on observing the behaviour of the industry", Mishra said. |
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Mishra also hinted at the Goods and Services Tax, which is likely to be introduced in 2010. |
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About Rs 1,22,000 crore worth of central excise duties were collected last year, thereby accounting for 36 per cent of the total tax collection, Mishra claimed. |