EASIEST – mandatory e-payment
For all the assessees paying excise and service tax to the tune of Rs. 50 lakh and above per annum, it will be mandatory to make the payment through e-mode from 1st April 2007 according to the Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram while launching the Electronic Accounting System in Excise and Service Tax (EASIEST).
Stating that e-payment is the most convenient method for payment of excise & service tax, Chidambaram said that in course of time everyone will be required to use the e-payment mode. The ultimate goal is the data collection synergy in direct and indirect taxes. The Finance Minister urged the manufacturers and industry businesses to pay excise duty correctly and punctually as the evasion of duty do not pay in the long run.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs in association with Principal Chief Controller of Accounts, Reserve Bank of India and 28 Scheduled Banks has introduced a simplified electronic accounting system for central excise and service tax payments called EASIEST. The scheme is conceptualized to address the weaknesses in the existing tax accounting system, which is a manual system. The manual system required the taxpayer to file four copies of Challan. EASIEST would require only a single challan for payment of Central Excise and Service Tax. It would capture all the essential information required from the assessee in relation to his tax payments.
EASIEST uses the electronic environment for expeditious transmission of tax information, to ensure greater accuracy and reliability of tax payment data. As part of the ongoing e-governance initiative of the Government of India, it is also proposed to reconcile the data so captured from the single challan with the tax returns filed by central excise and service tax assesses. It would be uploaded and hosted on a central database for excise and service tax as part of the Automation Project in Excise and Service Tax (ACES).