Registration for Service Tax and its Procedures

1.   Registration for Service Tax

Following persons liable for paying the service tax shall make an application to the concerned Superintendent of Central Excise in Form ST-1 for registration:

A.   If an ongoing service is made taxable- Within a period of thirty days from the date on which the service tax under section 66 of the Finance Act, 1994(32 of 1994) is levied

B.   If a new business (Taxable service) is commenced within a period of thirty days from the date of such commencement.

C.   Special Category of Persons’ under The Service Tax (Registration of Special Category of Persons) Rules, 2005:

1.    Input Service Distributor;

2.  Any provider of taxable service whose ‘aggregate value of taxable service’ in a financial year exceeds Nine lakh rupees.

D.  In case a service recipient is liable to pay service tax also has to obtain registration

1.    in relation to telecommunication service,

2.    in relation to general insurance business,

3.    in relation to insurance auxiliary service by an insurance agent,

4.    In relation to transport of goods by road in a goods carriage  where the consignor or consignee of goods is under 7 specific circumstance (i.e., factory, company, Statutory corporation, registered society, co-operative society, registered dealer of excisable goods, anybody corporate or registered partnership firm )

5.    In relation to Business Auxiliary Service of distribution of mutual fund by a mutual fund distributer or an agent

6.    in relation to sponsorship service provided to any body corporate or firm located in India;

E.  Any taxable service provided from outside India received in India, under Sec.66a of the Finance Act,1994.  

            

2. Input service distributor means:

1.    An office of the manufacturer/ producer of final products / provider of output service,

2.     Which receives invoices issued under rule 4A of the Service Tax Rules, 1994 towards purchases of input services

3.    And issues invoice/ bill/ Challan for the purposes of distributing the credit of service tax paid on the said services to such manufacturer/r producer / provider.

4.    (In short it is an office of the assessee which take all Cenvat credit relating to an Assess and disburse among different / same establishment of same assessee.

3. Procedure for Registration:

1.     A. Fill the Form ST-1 in duplicate.

B. Enclose photocopy of PAN card,

C. Proof of address to be registered address.

D. Copy of constitution /Partnership deed etc

2.    These forms are required to be submitted to the jurisdictional    excise  office / Service Tax Commissionerates

3.    File an application for registration within thirty days

 4.   Where a person, liable for paying service tax on a taxable service  having centralized billing system or centralized accounting system in respect of such service,

(i)      provides such service from more than one premises / offices; or 

(ii)         receives such service in more than one premises /offices; or,  

         May  either:

1.Opt for separate registration for each such premises or

2.Opt only that premises where centralized billing system or centralized accounting system is located.

3.If no centralized billing system or centralized accounting system then compulsory registration for each such premises.

5.         A single registration is sufficient even when an assessee is providing more than one taxable services.

6.         An assessee should get the registration certificate (registration number) from the department within 7 days from the date of submission of form S.T.1, under normal circumstances. Otherwise it is deemed to be registered.

7.   A fresh registration is required to be obtained in case of transfer of business to another person.

8. Any registered assessee when ceases to provide the taxable service shall surrender the registration certificate immediately.

9.    In case a registered assessee starts providing any new service from the same premises, he need not apply for a fresh registration.

a. He can simply fill in the Form S.T.1 for necessary amendments he desires to make in his existing information.

b. The new form may be submitted to the jurisdictional Superintendent for necessary endorsement of the new service category in his Registration certificate


Currently the filing of ST 1 is done online through Automation of Central excise and Service Tax through the website www.aces.gov.in.

Following steps are required:

1. ACES system has a two step process for New Registrations’
a. First step is user registers with the ACES software online after selecting applicable Central Excise Portal or Service Tax Portal from the website www.aces.gov.in to become an ACES user.
b. Second step is the  fills up appropriate registration form and becomes an Assessee

2. Log onto the http://www.aces.gov.in/ and select register menu and furnish credentials like e-mail id, Unit Name, Designation and Phone Number. The system will then generate a password and send it by e-mail.

3. After re-login as mentioned in question above, user can proceed with the statutory registration with the department, by filling-in Form  ST1 or Declarant form as the case may be, to become an Assessee.

4. Some of the details to be provided for registration.
• PAN
• Details of authorized signatories and all partners/directors/trustees etc
• Details of Bank account numbers
• Details of registration numbers under Companies Act, Sales Tax Act, IE code etc.
• Details of goods /raw materials used.

5. Only those fields marked with asterisk (“*”) in ACES application are mandatory fields and the same are to be filled before proceeding further.

6. Though ACES has a PAN based registration process, but if an Assessee does not have PAN, can still register with a Temporary Registration No.

7. Identify the Commissionerate name and select it, and  can also select the Division/Range from the list of Divisions/ranges which is fetched by the system when the page gets refreshed.

8. Select the services for which is to be registered, in ST1 form, click on the Search button with the magnifying glass. A list of services will be displayed in which the checkboxes on the left of the required services can be ticked to select them.

9. There is no need to furnish any enclosures while filing the registration form online. However, in the case of Service Tax certain documents as mentioned in the system generated acknowledgement are required to be submitted within the stipulated time with the Superintendent.

10. After successful submission of the form, an acknowledgement appears which confirms the submission. A unique number appears on this page which is the Registration Number and can be noted for future references.

11. Number generated after successful submission of Registration Form, would be the same number as it would appear in the Registration Certificate for new assessees.

12. There is no need to submit hard copy in case you have been able to successfully submit the registration form online in the case of Central Excise. In the case of Service Tax, supporting documents may have to be submitted as detailed in the previous answer.

13. An intimation of issuing of Registration Certificate will be sent through e-mail and the same can then be viewed under REG menu.

14. The jurisdictional Deputy Commissioner/Assistant Commissioner generates the Registration Certificate after viewing the particulars in the application. The registration certificate will be duly signed and sent to the Assessee in the mode as selected in the application. After Post verification is completed, the Registration Certificate can be viewed under the REG menu by the assessee. In the case of Service Tax, post verification is not mandatory and Registration Certificate will be generated after document verification.

15. After Submission of Registration Form, Departmental Officer will issue the Registration Certificate in a couple of working days, if otherwise found complete.

16. Contact the jurisdictional Range Officer in the case of Service Tax  if the Registration Certificate is not received .

17. The email id for communication and password can be changed at any time.

18. Existing assessees can amend the details whenever required by filling in the details in the application again.

19. New assessees can also amend the registration details after approval of Physical Verification report by the AC/DC. In certain cases (like change in constitution of business), the details changed may warrant a fresh physical verification or the issue of a new Registration Certificate.