File ST returns or face penalty, defaulters told

The service tax commissionaerate, Bangalore, has identified over 60,000 ‘non-filers’, ‘stop-filers’ and defaulters in its jurisdiction and said it has advised them to discharge their service tax liability and file returns immediately to avoid punitive action.

The commissionerate, in a statement, said that, “a large-scale default payment of service tax has been noticed and there are more than 60,000 such defaulters who are registered but are not filing regular returns and not paying the service tax. We are agressively pursuing collection and the recovery of revenue.”

The commissionerate has collected a gross revenue of Rs 5,963.20 crore from active assessees as of March 25, registering a growth of 29 per cent over the last year.

Furthermore, it said it has recovered an amount of Rs 188 crore in cash through additional revenue measures, including auditing, preventive measures, action against defaulters, especially concentrating on those cases where the service tax amount has been collected from clients but not paid to the exchequer.

“In many cases, bank accounts have been frozen to enforce compliance from defaulters who have collected service tax but have not deposited the same to the exchequer,” the statement said, pointing out that the 2013 Finance Bill, has proposed a provision to arrest those defaulters who owe Rs 50 lakh and above.

Along with the drive to collect revenue, the commissionerate has also sanctioned a refund of Rs 275.18 crore in 1,300 cases during the current financial year. “The department expects an increased revenue realisation during March 2013. And — as March 29 and 31 — are holidays, bankers have been requested to facilitate collection,” the statement said.