Industry & Economy
-
Taxation
Help Centres for small taxpayers to be made functional from July 1
K.R. Srivats
New Delhi
,
May 13
HELP Centres for `small taxpayers' of indirect taxes are to be made functional from July 1 this year. The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has now spelt out the broad framework under which such centres would operate around the country.
The Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, had in his budget speech announced that Help Centres for small taxpayers would be set up in cooperation with industry associations, professional bodies and non-governmental organisations. Consequently, the CBEC has now directed that at least one Help Centre may be set up in each commissionerate under an Additional/Joint Commissioner. The centre may have 6-8 members and should interact with trade and industry at least once a fortnight.
"The prime objective of the Help Centre is to help the honest taxpayer/small assessees/importers and exporters/service providers by providing an institutional mechanism for guiding and educating them in all matters relating to customs, central excise and service tax," a CBEC circular issued here on Friday said.
The centre would make the small taxpayers aware of their rights and obligations as also advantages of tax compliance and the consequence of non-compliance. The non-filers, stop-filers of returns and defaulters of monthly payment of excise duty would also be an area of focus, the circular said.
The CBEC has suggested the Help Centre may comprise authorised representatives of local SSI association, industry specific association of the area, local chapter of ICAI/ICWAI and an NGO working on Central excise, customs and service tax matters in the local area.
The Finance Ministry has also made it clear that such Help Centres would not be a forum for grievance redressal for which a public grievance committee was already operational in commissionerates. It has also been made clear that such centres should not operate from the Central excise and customs offices but from places where businesses are located.
Article
E-Mail
::
Comment
::
Syndication
::
Printer Friendly Page
|
