Filing of 1% excise duty involves simple procedure: Government

CHENNAI: Making it clear that the centre would not roll back 1 per cent excise duty imposed on jewellers even as strike by traders entered 14th day today, the government today said filing the levy is a simple process and there is no additional procedure.

"It is a simple procedure. Jewellers can file the one per cent excise online and can get registered in two days," Chief Commissioner of Central Excise J M Kennedy said.

Allaying fears of jewellers that it would be an "additional burden", he said, "It (the levy) will be applicable to those jewellery manufacturers with a turnover of over Rs 12 crore in the previous year".

"Only if the turnover of a jeweller during preceding financial year was more than Rs 12 crore will he be liable to pay the excise duty", Kennedy told reporters here.

Jewellers with turnover below Rs 12 crore will be eligible for exemption up to Rs 6 crore during next financial year. Such small jewellers will be eligible for exemptions up to Rs 50 lakh for March 2016, he said.

Kenneday clarified that artisans or goldsmiths who only manufacture jewellery on job-work basis are not required to register with Central Excise.

"This procedure is entirely based on self-assessment and voluntary compliance (from jewellers)", he said.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley yesterday ruled out rollback of 1 per cent excise on non-silver jewellery, saying the move was aimed to aligning gold with GST, notwithstanding demands by jewellery traders.

Jewellers across the country are on indefinite strike against the proposed excise duty as well as mandatory quoting of PAN by customers for transaction of Rs 2 lakh and above.