ER 1 and ER 3 again amended - Unpardonable waste of paper
From TIOL-DDT 116 - 17 05 2005
The great babus of North Block who use only government stationery have absolutely no idea as to the cost of paper. The CBEC must have been responsible for a large chunk of forest wealth being depleted. The frequent notifications and amendments they bring out cost this nation tons and tons of paper. The latest contribution to the destruction of forests is the new form for monthly returns.
The good old RT -12 returns survived for more than a quarter of a century, of course with a few amendments. Then came the ER-1 from 26th June 2001. This lasted for a little over two years when the form was changed on 15th September 2003. The 2003 ER-1 could not complete a full year before it was changed on 4th August 2004. And this return could be used for exactly a month when by notification No. 25/2004 dated 27.9.2004, the form was again changed. And in less than a year the form is again changed now.
The forms were again amended on 16.5.2005 and now in less than 18 months, the forms are again changed. This time around the provocation is LTU.
Perhaps the Government does not realise the amount of trouble it causes the assessees to adapt to the new forms and that too in such unfailing frequency.. For those using computers to generate the forms, it is a difficult task to change the software and for large corporates who use the same software in all their units, it is pandemonium for some time.
There is another tragic angle to this. In many cities you will find small, poor traders printing these forms and selling them to SSI units and other small manufacturers, for a small profit. Whenever the Government changes the proforma, all the printed materials lying in stock with these small traders become useless and they incur heavy losses, promoting them from poverty to starvation.
Even large units would get their stationery printed for a year or two and all that would go waste now. Perhaps there should be some law that whenever the Government changes the proforma, the forms have to be supplied for a year at Government cost. It is sheer adhoc callousness and lack of concern for the assessees that make our babus behave like this. Only those officers should be posted to the Board who have at least one close relative running a small industry and paying excise duty. Only then they will understand the agony they are able to cause in their great notification manufacturing and repairing exercise.
And what is ER-3. It is the quarterly return to be filed by assessees availing exemption based on value of clearances. But what is that exemption? Is the Board not aware that Notification No. 9/2003 is rescinded? Now who is to file the ER-3? Does the Board know any assessee who is required to file the ER-3?
And incidentally, is the Finance Ministry not aware of the enactment of the Finance Bill 2005? ADE is defined in the forms as ADE levied under clause 85 of Finance Bill, 2005. Hasn’t the Finance Bill become the Finance Act? Are they aware that Finance Bill 2005 simply dopes not exist now?
NOTIFICATION NO. , Dated: October 12, 2006