Date:12/09/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/09/12/stories/2006091219860300.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Large tax payer unit in State

Special Correspondent

Corporates paying service tax or income tax of Rs. 10 crore or more can use the facility

Assessees allowed to voluntarily pay excise duty in full or in part

Bangalore: Bangalore now has the country's first large taxpayer unit (LTU) to help companies filing central excise returns of Rs. 5 crore and above or income tax and service tax returns of at least Rs. 10 crore.

Chief Commissioner of Central Excise K.S. Nair told presspersons on Monday that out of 81 eligible corporates, 31 have joined the facility.

Those opting for this one-stop filing of returns and tax payments include Toyota Kirloskar Motors, ABB, 3M India, Mysore Sales International Ltd, Canara Bank and Vijaya Bank.

"These companies need to have a single Permanent Account Number (PAN) and can file returns for any number of their units, which may be located beyond Bangalore.

They can save 50 per cent of the time they used to spend for taxation matters," Mr. Nair said.

The LTU office is located at JSS Towers, 100 ft Ring Road, Banashankari 3rd Stage.

"This is a trade-friendly initiative based on transparency and mutual trust in the form of voluntary compliance," he said.

The Taxation Laws Amendment Act, 2006, enacted by Parliament, had its effects here, Mr. Nair said. Changes in the Central Excise Act now provide for an optional scheme for voluntary payment of duty by assessees, in full or in part, in cases involving mis-statement or contravention.

No adjudication

The assessees can on their own pay the actual amount payable, along with 25 per cent of the duty payable as penalty, within 30 days of receiving a "show-cause" notice. They can avoid the long adjudication process this way.