It's back to business
JEWELLERS on last Saturday called off their 18-day old strike demanding roll-back of proposed excise duty on non-silver jewellery after the government assured them that there will be no harassment by excise officials.
"It (excise duty) has not been rolled back but our grievances have been taken care of. The Finance Minister has assured us that there will be no 'inspector raj' and we are hopeful of getting a notification in this regard. After long deliberations, all associations agreed to call off the stir,"
Chairman of All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation (GJF) told the press.
On 17th March 2016, a number of representatives of jewellery industry met Secretary (Revenue) and Chairman (Central Board of Excise & Customs) to discuss the concerns regarding imposition of this levy and when it was clarified that -
a) In case of jewellery manufactured on job work basis, the liability to take registration, pay duty and to file return is on the principal manufacturer and not on the job worker.
b) Further, exemption from excise duty up to the clearance limit of Rs. 6 Crore is
available to a jewellery manufacturer if his aggregate value of domestic clearances is less than Rs. 12 Crore in the preceding financial year.
c) Artisans and job-workers are not covered within the ambit of this duty and thus they are not required to take registration, pay duty, file returns and maintain any books of account.
d) A jewellery manufacturer having turnover less than Rs. 12 Crore during the preceding financial year and less than Rs. 6 Crore in the current financial year is not required to take registration and file return.
e) Application for excise registration as well as returns can be filled online [https://www.aces.gov.in/].
f) Directions have been issued to the field formations to provide hassle free registration within two working days. There will be no post registration physical verification of the jeweller's premises.
g) There is no requirement of declaring pre-budget stocks. Directions have also been issued barring any visits to the jeweller's premises.
h) Jeweller's private records or his records for State VAT or for Bureau of Indian Standards (in the case of hallmarked jewellery) would be accepted for all Central Excise purposes.
Last heard is that the former CEA Dr Ashok Lahiri is to hold talks with Jewellers' Association to work out simple procedures for collection of 1% excise duty.
It is estimated that the jewellery industry incurred a loss of over Rs 25,000 crore during the last 18 days.