(1) What
is assessee code and is it different from
Registration number, “ECC” code and “STC”?
They
are all one and the same. The assessee code is a
15-character identification number allotted by the system to the Central Excise
or Service Tax assessee based on PAN number or a
temporary number (in cases where PAN
could not be submitted). The 15-character assessee
code will be available in the registration certificate issued to the assessee.
(2)
What is
Location Code? How does one get it? What is Commissionerate code, Division code
and Range Code?
Location Code is a six digit code
representing the precise jurisdiction of the Central Excise or Service Tax
formation under which a particular assessee falls.
The first two of which represent the Commissionerate, the second two digits
represent the Division under that Commissionerate and the last two digits
represent the Range under the Division. It is very important to fill up
the location code properly for correct accounting of the tax paid.
(3) Is the PAN based registration
number mandatory for e-payment? If the PAN based registration number is not
available in the Banker’s database, what should be done? Who should be
contacted?
From January
22, 2008 onwards, it was mandatory for all assesses to quote their assessee code in the GAR-7 challan
at the time of payment of excise duty or excise duty in the authorized bank
branches. The banks were advised by RBI to ensure that the taxpayer has quoted
a valid assessee code (15 digit Registration Number) in the challan prior to acceptance of the challan by the bank.
To ensure that challans which are accepted by the authorized bank branches
do not get rejected on account of invalid assessee
code at the EASIEST central system, the banks were to download the incremental assessee code directory which is updated on the EASIEST
website on a daily basis.
Sl. No.
|
Situation
|
Action
|
1.
|
Assessee code is present
in the directory
|
If the assessee
code is present in the directory, then
the bank branch should accept the challan and at the
time of digitization of the
records to be uploaded to
EASIEST (RT 51), should populate
the location
code of the assessee
as present in the directory.
|
2.
|
Assessee code is not present
in the directory
|
i) If the assessee
code is not present in the directory
(in case the bank has not
downloaded the latest
directory), then the bank should
verify the assessee
code at the NSDL-EASIEST /
NSDL-CBEC
search on the assessee
code is provided in the
website.
ii) If the assessee
code is present at the NSDL
EASIEST website, the bank should
accept the
challan and the assessee code and location code
should
be digitized as displayed at the NSDL-EASIEST website.
|
3.
|
Assessee code is not present
in the directory or in the
NSDL-EASIEST / NSDL-CBEC
|
In such instances, the banks
should ask the assessee
to take up the issue with CBEC for necessary action
|
To verify the availability of the
Registration Number in CBEC/NSDL database, CLICK HERE (This utility serves the dual purpose of confirming the availability of the
Registration details in department’s database and generation of an error-free
GAR-7 challan for the taxpayer.)
(4) My
Range / Division Officer has confirmed the availability of my
Registration Number in the CBEC database. Yet, the Banks are not
accepting my payment, as the same is not in their database. What should I do?
Please see the case at Sl. No. 2
in the table above.
(5) I
don’t have a PAN based registration, but I want to make a payment towards my
old arrears. Can I make the payment without having to get myself
registered?
It is necessary to have a valid
registration number from the Central Excise/Service Tax Department for making
any payment. If you are not a regular assesse with the department but needs to effect e-payment, you
can obtain registration as "Non-assessee" by logging into http://www.aces.gov.in and choosing the option "CENTRAL
EXCISE" or "SERVICE TAX"
(6) How
will a non-assessee without a registration number pay
any arrears or make any miscellaneous payment?
Any
person who wants to make payment of Central Excise duty or Service Tax but is
not a registered assessee will have to get registered
as ‘non-assessee’ under ACES at http://www.aces.gov.in. The Reserve Bank had issued instruction no. RBI/2008-09/165 dated 05.09.2008 to the banks to accept payments by
such registered ‘non-assessees’.
(7)
I have transferred my unit from one
location to another resulting in change of commissionerate/division/range.
But my e-Payment cyber receipt shows the old Commissionerate/division/range
name. What should I do?
Change in location code and any other
amendments to the Registration details are initiated by the Assessee
and as and when they get approved by proper officer, the ACES system gets
updated accordingly. The discrepancy might be due to non-updation of Master Directories by the concerned banks or
M/s NSDL. In this regard, Assessee may contact the jurisdictional officer.
(8) My
Bankers have implemented the CORE Banking solution. Can I make e-payment
of Excise Duty and Service Tax, in any of their branches?
The Core Banking solution implemented
by the Banks caters to the needs of the clients of that particular bank. The
client is given the facility to transact from anywhere within the
country.
In case of e-payment of taxes, the
branches do not come into the picture as the person does not go to any branch
to make payment of the taxes. When the customer/tax payer registers with
the bank authorized for collecting taxes through internet banking, the bank
gives the web address, the username and password to their client. The
transaction occurs in the books of accounts of the bank and the tax gets
credited to the Government Account. The Principal Chief Controller of Accounts
has authorized certain banks to receive taxes through internet banking ( e-payment).
In case of manual payment, the taxes
are tendered physically in a bank branch along with the G.A.R.7 challan and that particular bank should have been
authorized to receive the taxes in that area.
The list of banks in which a taxpayer
can make e-payment as well as the list of banks authorized to receive taxes
through its branches, is available on the Website http://pccacbec.nic.in/index.html. The local Range/Divisional Office or
Technical Section in the Commissionerate can also be contacted for this
information.
(9) The
Counterfoil given at the bank does not contain the Challan
Identification Number (shortly referred to as CIN), which number should I quote
in my return?
The bank has to
necessarily give CIN for the payment made by you. CIN is the combination
of:
a. BSR Code which is 7 digits (unique for each Bank Branch),
b.
Date of tender/deposit which is 8 digits (DDMMYYYY) and
c. Challan Serial Number (5 digits) given by the Branch for
each transaction.
All these
details should appear in the computerized acknowledgement/receipt that must be
demanded by the Assessee.
(10) How
do I know the correct accounting code for my service?
The accounting codes can be accessed at the link https://cbec-easiest.gov.in/EST/InputPageForEPaymentServlet. Here, the user needs to enter a valid
assessee code to view the accounting codes in respect
of Central Excise / Service tax.
(11)
I have made a payment of Rs.100,000/- through a GAR-7 challan.
My Range Officer says that the amount is not tallying with the data uploaded by
Banks. Whom should I contact?
The bank should be approached with the
copy of acknowledgement/receipt and should be asked to initiate necessary
action for rectification of the error.
Further, the bank can be requested to
give a certificate of payment, where the amount remitted is recorded both in
words and figures. The Range Officer may then be given a copy of such
certificate, with a request to reconcile the matter with concerned PAO.
(12) What
is e-Filing, EASIEST and E-Payment?
e-filing is the facility given by CBEC to file
returns online.
EASIEST (Electronic Accounting System
in Excise and Service Tax) is the mechanism for payment of Central Excise
duties and Service taxes. In EASIEST, the taxpayer has to submit only one copy
of the GAR-7 challan as against the old procedure of
giving 4 copies of TR-6 challans in the Bank. The
counterfoil of the challan will be kept by the bank
and a computerized printout of the data entered by the bank will be given to
the taxpayer as a receipt / acknowledgement. The CIN (Challan
Identification Number) has to be quoted in the Excise/Service Tax return in the
space provided for it. CIN is the combination of:
a. BSR Code which is 7 digits (unique for each Bank Branch),
b.
Date of tender/deposit which is 8 digits (DDMMYYYY) and
c.
Challan Serial Number (5 digits) given by the Branch
for each transaction.
There is no need for the
taxpayer to attach a copy of the challan with the
return.
e-payment is a facility extended by various
Banks for making Central Excise/Service Tax payments through online
Banking. The taxpayer need not personally go to the Bank to make the
payment. The taxpayer has to get a user-id and password from one of the
banks providing the facility for making e-Payment. Visit https://cbec-easiest.gov.in/EST/InputPageForEPaymentServlet
(13) What
is a computer generated acknowledgement of GAR 7 challan?
The receiving bank branches of the
nominated banks in EASIEST are to issue computerized challan
receipt as an acknowledgement to the assessee. The
collecting/receiving bank branches would hand over this receipt to the assessee as an acknowledgement/proof of the tax payment.
This computer generated acknowledgement of GAR 7 challan
would be given to the taxpayer after putting the signature and seal of the
authorized signatory in token of receipt of the amount. This would serve
as the taxpayer’s receipt for payment made. The collecting / receiving
bank branch would retain the tear off counterfoil of the GAR7 challan submitted by taxpayer. The words “Taxpayer’s
counterfoil” appearing in the GAR 7 challan would be
substituted by the word “Counterfoil”. The computerized printout should
necessarily have the following information: -
1. Bank code
2. Branch code
3. Date of Tender of challan
4.
Challan sequence number
5. Name of the Assessee
6.
Assessee code
7. Location code (Commissionerate + Division + Range code)
8.
Major Head code
9.
The eight digit Accounting code for duty / cess
in case of payments of Central Excise and Service code in case of Service Tax.
10. Amount of duty / tax paid for each of the Accounting code
11.
Total amount
12.
Collection indicator / Mode of payment
13.
Date of realization of the instrument.
(Serial no 9 & 10, are to be repeated for payments made under different heads)
The above details should necessarily
be there in the computerized printout. The banks, if they wish can give a
printout of the entire details captured by them.
Section II (Issues
and Resolution)
Qn 1. I have quoted the
Challan Identification Number (CIN) given by the bank
in my excise / service tax return. But an error message “The challan quoted by you does not excise or does not belong to
you” is displayed.
Ans: Assessee
can check the CIN – challan number using the NSDL
website https://onlineservices.cbec-easiest.gov.in/csi/index.html (Challan Status
Query > CIN based View). This link is also provided on ACES website,
viz., “Know Status of Challan”
under Highlights Section. If the CIN exists in the NSDL website, no need to
worry. Your challan would be uploaded into the NSDL
website in due course. In case, your challan is not
found on the NSDL website, please contact the collecting bank / branch for
immediate resolution. If the issue remains unresolved, the same may be brought
to the knowledge of the Range Officer or a complaint can be lodged with aces.servicedesk@icegate.gov.in
Qn 2
I have made e-payment / manual payment , but my challan
details are not available in NSDL.
Ans:
Please contact the concerned bank / branch for immediate resolution. If
unresolved, the same may be brought to the knowledge of the Range Officer or a
complaint can be lodged with aces.servicedesk@icegate.gov.in
Qn. 3 I have made the e-payment, but inadvertently a wrong assessee code was entered.
Ans: Correction of challan
in case of e-payment is not possible. Presently, refund is the only process
available for the assessee in such cases. Hence, care
needs to be taken while tendering e-payment of Central Excise Duties / Service
tax.
Qn. 4 I have made e-payment, but inadvertently quoted a wrong assessee code / service.
Ans:
Correction of challan in e-payment is not
possible. Presently, refund is the only
process available for the assessee in such cases.
Hence, care needs to be taken while tendering e-payment of Central Excise
Duties / Service tax.
Qn. 5 I have tendered central Excise Duty / service tax using
manual GAR-7 Challan across the counter. But it is
found that the assessee code quoted in the challan is wrong.
Ans:
As long as the Assessee Name quoted in the challan is unchanged, a request to the collecting bank may
be made for change of the assessee code, provided the
assessee code contained the same assessee
name (this happens in the case of group
units having same PAN Number but different assessee
code such as PAN No. + EM001, EM002, EM003.) Of course due request and approval from the
jurisdictional Commissioner may be obtained for such change before giving the
request to the collecting bank. On receipt of such request, the collecting bank
would upload RT-58 Correction challan whereby
necessary corrections are effected.
Qn.
6 My unit has been registered with ACES. However, the bank is refusing
to accept my payment stating the assessee code is not
present in the bank master.
Ans: Availability of the assessee code in NSDL can be checked using the following link :
If
the assessee code is present in the NSDL website,
kindly request the bank to update Bank’s assessee
master from NSDL website. If the issue is unresolved, or a
complaint lodged with aces.servicedesk@icegate.gov.in.
Qn. 7 In the NSDL website,
using the hyperlink https://cbec-easiest.gov.in/EST/AssesseeVerification.do ,
Name of the Assessee, Address and Location
Code – Commissionerate / Division / Range Code are displayed. If there is an error in any of the fields to
whom should I approach ?
Ans:
In case of errors in the NSDL website, please contact the jurisdictional
Range Superintendent for necessary correction action. In case the issue is not
resolved, the same may be reported to ACES Service Desk at aces.servicedesk@icegate.gov.in
Qn. 8
Can I download the format for GAR-7 Challan ?
Ans. It can be downloaded using the hyperlink https://onlineservices.cbec-easiest.gov.in/csi/downloads.html
(Downloads section in the NSDL
website: https://cbec-easiest.gov.in/EST/)
Source:-http://cbec.gov.in/faq-on-easiest-ason01062014.htm
