Govt asks Jewellers to pay excise dues by July 1

The Dollar Business Bureau

The government asked jewellers to make the payments of central excise duty for March-May, in addition with the excise duty for the month of June. The government has also extended the time line for registering the central excise of an establishment till July 1, 2016.

In a release, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) said that assessee jewellers should make payments of their excise dues for March, April and May months, together with the payment of excise duty for the month of June.

“However, the liability for payment of excise duty is with effect from March 1, 2016,” it said.

The Board has also prolonged the time frame for registering an enterprise by a jeweller, till July 1, this year.

In his budget speech on February 29, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had proposed the imposition of 1 percent excise duty on non-silver jewellery, which led to widespread protests and strike by jewellers. However, after assurances from the government, the strike was called off temporarily on April 13, after 42 days.

Meanwhile, a sub-committee was created by the government under the former Chief Economic Advisor Ashok Lahiri, to look into the demands of the protesting jewellers and to interact with the industry on imposing excise duty.

The sub-committee will appoint trade representatives soon. The committee shall also take into consideration all issues with regards to compliance process for excise duty, records to be kept, operating procedures and other pertinent issues.