Constitution of Committee to scrutinize / accept Declarations filed by the assessee under the provisions of Section 11 A(2) of the Central Excise Act, 1944 OR Section 11 A(7) (i) of the Central Excise Act, 1944 OR Section 73(3) of the Finance Act, 1994 OR Section 73 (4A) of the Finance Act, 1994 - Central Excise - STANDING ORDER NO. : 01/2013

OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS, CENTRAL EXCISE SERVICE TAX, RAJKOT CENTRAL EXCISE BHAVAN , RACE COURSE RING ROAD, RAJKOT - 360 001 F. No. IV/08-08/MP/2013 Dated. 29.10.2013 STANDING ORDER NO. : 01/2013 Sub: Constitution of Committee to scrutinize / accept Declarations filed by the assessee under the provisions of Section 11 A(2) of the Central Excise Act, 1944 OR Section 11 A(7) (i) of the Central Excise Act, 1944 OR Section 73(3) of the Finance Act, 1994 OR Section 73 (4A) of the Finance Act, 1994 1. In terms of Section 11A(2)of the Central Excise Act, 1944, when, under the provisions of clause (b) to sub-section (I) to Section 11 A of the Central Excise Act, 1944, as amended, the assessee pays duty of excise along with interest payable thereon and informs of such payment in writing to the Central Excise officer, the said officer shall not serve a demand notice to the said assessee for the duty so paid or any penalty under the provisions of Central Excise Act, 1944 or rules made there under. 2. In terms of Section 11 A(7)(i) of the Central Excise Act, 1944, when, under the provisions of Section 11 A (6) of the Central Excise Act, 1944- as amended, the assesses pays duty of excise alongwith interest payable thereon and the prescribed penalty and informs of such payment in writing to the Central Excise officer, the said officer shall not serve a demand notice to the said assessee for the amount so paid. 3. In terms of Section 73(3) of the Finance Act, 1994 - as amended, when under the provisions of the said Section 73(3) the assessee pays service tax along with interest thereon and informs of such payment in writing to the Central Excise officer; the said officer Shall not serve a demand notice to the said assessee for the said service tax. 4. In terms of 'Section 73(4A) of the Finance Act, 1994 - as amended, when the assessee pays service tax and interest thereon, along with prescribed penalty and informs of such payment in writing to the Central Excise Officer, the said officer shall not serve a demand notice to the said assessee for the said service tax. 5. Therefore, in terms or aforesaid provisions, the assesses / service providers are required to file declaration giving full details of payment of duty/ tax alongwith interest and penalty, wherever applicable. A proforma of letter to be filed under the provisions of Central Excise is given in the Annexure 'A' to the Central Excise Manual 2008 and the same maybe considered useful for the declarations to be filed under Service Tax also. As per said proforma the assessee / service provider has to give details of payment of duty/tax along with interest and prescribed penalty with request to close the case being not a case involving intention to evade the revenue 6. Constitution of Committee:- To decide whether a benefit of waiver of demand notice is to be granted in any of the above said situation there shall be a Committee of officers. The Committee will consist as under:- a. Commissioner, Central Excise, Customs Service Tax, Rajkot :- Chairman b. All the Additional Commissioners posted in CCE, Rajkot Commissionerate :- Members c. Divisional Assistant/Deputy Commissioner in charge of the unit or assessee whose declaration is taken up for discussion :- Members d. Deputy / Assistant Commissioner, A.E., HQ., Rajkot :- Member Secretary. 7. Monetary Limit : - (i) All cases under Section 11A(2) 11A(7) (i) of the Central excise act, 1944; and under Section 73(3) 73 (4A) of the Finance Act, 1994, wherein the total amount of duty involved is up to ₹ 5 lakhs, the declaration can be accepted by the concerned assistant / Deputy Commissioner with the approval of concerned Joint / Additional commissioner. (ii) All cases under Section 11A(2) 11A(7)(i) of the Central Excise act, 1944; and under Section 73 (3) 73(4A) of the Finance Act, 1994 wherein the duty involved is above ₹ 5 lakhs upto ₹ 50 lakhs, the declaration can be accepted by the concerned Joint / Additional Commissioner with the approval of Commissioner. (iii) All cases under Section 11A(2) 11A(7)(i) of the Central Excise Act, 1944 and under Section 73 (3) 7(4A) of the Finance Act, 1994 wherein the duty involved is above ₹ 50 lakhs, the same will be placed before Committee. Procedure: 8. Wherever the detection is by Hqrs Audit / Anti-Evasion Officers, the concerned Audit Party / Anti-Evasion Group / Survey Group of Service Tax will be responsible for ensuring that the declaration is submitted by the assesses, or where no-such declaration is submitted within a reasonable period (in any case not beyond the limitation period), then SCN is to be issued. Further, the concerned 'Audit Group / Anti-Evasion team / Survey group will be responsible for checking and certifying that the amount of duty/tax and the interest due have been fully paid by the declarant. 9. The declaration will initially be processed and scrutinized by the Assistant / Deputy Commissioner, In-charge of the Central Excise/Service Tax Division, Assistant / Deputy Commissioner, Audit and by the Assistant / Deputy Commissioner, Anti- Evasion as the case may be, as per-criteria prescribed below. All the declarations pertaining to Audit will be placed before the Audit Monitoring Committee (MCM) by Audit Section the MCM will decide on whether these declarations are to be accepted or not, in case the MCM decides that any declaration is to be put up before the committee then only such declarations will be referred to the committee. All other declarations (not relating to Audit) involving duty / tax of ₹ 50,000/- or more, shall be sent to the Member secretary for placing the same before Committee by the concerned AC/DC. 10. All references made to the Committee for acceptance or otherwise of assessees' declaration Should clearly recommend whether the duty / tax amount in question is prima-facie covered under the facilitating provisions of Section 11 A(2) of the Central Excise Act, 1944 or Section 11 A(7) (i) of the Central excise Act, 1944 or Section 73(3) of the Finance Act, 1994 OR Section 73 (4A) of the Finance Act,1994 11. All recommendations for consideration of the Committee must reach the Member Secretary (Assistant / Deputy Commissioner, Anti-Evasion) at least by the fifteenth of each month who will process the cases for the Committee. The member Secretary should also cause to be maintained a separate register for this purpose incorporating, interalia, the following details :- Sr. No F., No. given by Anti- Evasion Section F. No. / date of the office letter by the Audit / AE Section Name of the Assessee Issue involved 1 2 3 4 5 Details of duty / tax involved recovered Details of interest / penalty involved recovered Recommendations by the Division /Audit Evasion as the case may be Anti Decision by The Committee Date of The decision Remarks. 6 7 8 9 10 11 12. The Committee shall after due consideration record its decision either to accept or reject the declaration. The decision of the Committee will be conveyed by the Secretary to all concerned for the necessary action. The Committee will meet at least once in a month, ideally on the day when the Excise Monitoring Committee Meeting (ECM) is held in the Commissionerate, or as may be decided by the Chairman, 13. In order to judge whether there was any willful mis-statement or suppression of facts on the part of the applicant, the following criteria shall be considered for acceptance / rejection of the declarations i. whether the applicant's reason for non payment of duty / tax appears prima-facie reasonable. ii. whether duty / tax is now paid in full indicating amount iii. whether interest is also paid, (indicate amount). iv. whether the levy was new when the contravention took place. v. whether party has been penalized in past and appeal if any reached finality, confirming the penalty. vi. whether there was a general practice not to pay S.T. / duty at the time of the contravention. vii whether there was any clear element of fraud, suppression of facts etc. viii issue involved (in brief) and whether the liability of duty / tax is legally disputable. ix. whether the assessee had access to legal consultancy / advice / awareness etc. ix) any other factors. 14. A checklist given below should invariably submitted alongwith the declaration while putting up before the committee. Sr. No. Remarks. 1 File Number. 2 Name of the declarant. 3 Reference number date of declaration 4 Amount of duty / tax paid whether it is paid in full (mention the amount say whether full amount is paid). 5. Amount of interest paid and whether interest is paid in full (mention the amount say whether full amount is paid). 6 Whether the declarant has collected service tax / Central Excise duty separate y from the customers and not deposited the same in Government account. 7 Period of non payment 8 Issue involved (in brief) and whether the liability duty / tax is legally disputable. 9 Whether the applicant's reason for non payment of duty / tax appears prima-facie reasonable. 10 W ether the levy was new when the contravention took place (How old is the levy in years months) 11 Whether party has been penalized in past and appeal if any, reached finality, confirming the penalty. 12 Whether there was a general practice not to pay S.T. / duty at the time of the contravention. 13 Whether the assessee had access to legal consultancy / advice / awareness etc. 14 Whether there are clear elements of fraud / suppression etc. 15 Whether the true complete account of transactions is otherwise available in the specified records. 16 Any other factors. (V. Padmanabhan) Commissioner