Jewellers' excise registration deadline till July-end

The Dollar Business Bureau

The CBEC on Friday said in a circular that the deadline for jewellers to register with the central excise department has been extended till July 31. The jewellers can settle their outstanding dues for the period March–May with that of June payments by July 31.

The government had formed a sub-committee under the high-level committee in April this year - after jewellers from across the country had expressed disappointment following the imposition of 1% excise duty announced during the budget speech in May – to interact with the jewellery traders and industry.

Besides former chief economic adviser Lahiri, the panel also included officials from commerce ministry and CBEC, representatives of gold traders and one legal expert. The committee submitted its report to the Finance Ministry last week.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitely had introduced 12.5% excise with input tax credit and 1% excise duty without input tax credit on all articles of jewellery in his Union Budget 2016-17.

Following the announcement, jewelers from across the country went on a two-week long strike with some jewellers shutting shops for as many as 45 days, following which the finance ministry assured the jewellers of a minimum interface with the tax department.

As part of the new announcement, jewellers with annual turnover of over Rs.12 crore during the preceding financial year, will be liable to pay the excise duty. “The liability for payment of central excise duty will be with effect from March 1, 2016,” a finance ministry statement said.