Draconian attachment provisions in Central Excise and Service Tax too
As mentioned in yesterday's DDT, the guidelines for provisional attachment of Property after issue of Show cause Notice and before adjudication are in place.
For Service Tax, the Service Tax (Provisional Attachment of Property) Rules, 2008, had been notified.
A circular has been issued to explain the provisions.
Now if you are an alleged offender in Customs, Excise or Service Tax and the ingenious department has issued a Show cause Notice demanding more than Rs. 25 Lakhs, your property is at risk.
These provisions will never be used; they will be abused and misused. Every noticee can now be threatened with provisional attachment of property. The Department does not really have the infrastructure or experience to attach property and manage the attached property. But they can always threaten vulnerable assessees. During next March, this will be the most powerful weapon with the Department to meet their Revenue Targets.
And if the Department is serious about attachment, High Courts are going to be clogged with writ petitions to lift the attachments.
Notification No. - Dated 01 July 2008
Circular No. - Dated 01 July 2008
Circular No. , Dated: June 30, 2008