Service Tax/Central Excise -Confusion Over Adjudication Powers - CBEC Issues Fresh Circular and ends up using an unborn provision
CBEC yesterday issued fresh instructions on the adjudication powers of its officers.
The Highlights of the CBEC Circular:
1. It is directed that henceforth powers of adjudication both in Central Excise and Service Tax shall be exercised, based on the monetary limit of the duty/ tax/ credit involved in a case, as under: -
Sl.No. | Central Excise Officer | Monetary Limits of duty/ tax/credit demand for Central Excise and Service Tax |
1. | Superintendent | Not exceeding rupees ten lakh |
2. | Deputy/ Assistant Commissioner | Above ten lakh but not exceeding rupees fifty lakh |
3. | Additional/ Joint Commissioner | Above fifty lakh but not exceeding rupees two crore |
4. | Commissioner | Without limit i.e. cases exceeding rupees two crores |
2. Cases involving taxability, classification, valuation and extended period of limitation shall be kept out of the purview of adjudication by Superintendents. Such cases, upto rupees 10 lakhs, shall also be adjudicated by the Deputy Commissioner/ Assistant Commissioner in addition to the cases exceeding rupees 10 lakhs but not exceeding rupees 50 lakh.
3. Cases of refund (including rebate), shall be adjudicated by the Deputy Commissioner/ Assistant Commissioner without any monetary limit.
4. Unlimited powers of adjudication to Additional/Joint Commissioner in cases of transit loss and Cenvat Credit. (see the contradiction; In 1. Above, there is a limit of two crore rupees for the Joint Commissioner, but under this, there is no limit. LITIGATION?)
5. In case different show cause notices have been issued on the same issue answerable to different adjudicating authorities, Show Cause Notices involving the same issue shall be adjudicated by the adjudicating authority competent to decide the case involving the highest amount of duty.
6. Every adjudicating authority of Central Excise and Service Tax in the field shall endeavour to adjudicate 100 cases in a year.
7. Cases which have been remanded back for de novo adjudication shall be decided by an authority of the rank which passed the said remanded order.
8. In all cases where the personal hearing has been completed, orders will be passed by the adjudicating authority before which the hearing has been held. Such orders should normally be issued within a month of the date of completion of the personal hearing.
Yesterday's DDT said,
Now, what will happen to the pending cases? In the next few months the major activity in the Commissionerates would be to transfer
1. All cases pending with Commissioner where the demand is less than two crore rupees, to the ADC/JC.
2. All cases with ADC/JC where the demand is less than fifty lakh rupees, to the DC/AC.
3. Most of the cases with DC/AC where the demand is less than ten lakh rupees, to the Superintendent.
The assessees will be addressed letters to intimate the new adjudicating authority.
Perhaps the Board would now rescind the Circular dated August 10, 2005 and come out with a new one.
The Board Circular states:
Chief Commissioners shall review the position of Service Tax cases pending for adjudication at the level of Commissioner, and earmark these cases to Commissioners of Central Excise and Commissioners (Audit) also within their respective Zones. Orders allocating cases for adjudication would be required to be issued. Similar exercise can be done on the Central Excise side also..
An immediate exercise may be undertaken by the field formations to, take stock of the present pendency, redistribute them for adjudication and transfer the relevant files and records to respective adjudicating authorities.
The Chief Commissioners concerned are directed to ensure that once the Show Cause Notices pending for adjudication are re-distributed and re-assigned, the pending cases are to be disposed by 31.03.2017. (Before GST?)
And they have rescinded not just Circular No. 80 of 2005, but 7 other circulars.
CBEC Circular No. 1049/37/2016-CX., Dated: September 29 2016