FILING OF FORM ST- 1 FOR REGISTRATION IN SERVICE TAX

[Dr. Sanjiv Agarwal]

According to Section 69 of Finance Act 1994, every person liable to pay the Service Tax under Chapter- V or the rules made thereunder shall, within such time and in such manner and in such form as may be prescribed, make an application for registration to the Superintendent of Central Excise.

For the purpose of registration, application for registration should be made by —

·         Service provider

·         Service receiver u/s 68(2)

·         Small service provider under Service Tax (Registration of Special Category of Persons) Rules, 2005

·         Input service distributor under Service Tax (Registration of Special Category of Persons) Rules, 2005

·         Importer of service being person liable u/s 68(2)

If taxable services are provided from more than one premises or office, separate applications for service tax registration are to be made for all such premises or offices. It is the premise and not the person which is required to be registered. However, in certain cases, an assessee or service provider providing taxable services from more than one office having centralised billing system or centralised accounting system can opt for centralised registration as per rule 4(2) of service tax Rules, 1994 as amended.

In case of service provider providing more than one taxable service (i.e. multiple taxable service, he can make a single registration application mentioning therein all the services being provided by him. Thus, both for multiple services as well as multiple premises, a single registration application would suffice.

Rule 4 of Service Tax Rules, 1994 relating to registration provides that every person liable for paying the Service Tax shall make an application to the Superintendent of Central Excise appointed under Rule 3 in Form ST-1 for registration within a period of 30 days of the Service Tax having come into force. It has been further provided that where a person commences the business of providing a taxable service after such service has been notified, he shall make an application for registration within a period of 30 days from the date of such commencement. In case of service provided by a non-resident or person from outside India not having any office in India, the receiver of service shall be liable to pay service tax on behalf of service provider. Sub-rule (2) of Rule 4 provides that where an assessee is providing a taxable service from more than one premises or offices and has a centralised billing system in respect of services rendered to clients from such premises or offices at any one premises or office, he may opt for registering only the premises or office from where such centralised billing is done. Similarly, if the assessee does the billing from his regional office in respect of branch office falling within that region, he may be permitted to register his regional office(s) only if he opts for the same. The detailed procedure to be followed by the assessee in case he opts for centralised registration and payment of Service Tax shall be the same as has been prescribed in the case of services rendered by courier agencies. However, where an assessee is providing a taxable service from more than one premises or offices, and does not have any centralised billing system, he shall be required to make separate applications for registration in respect of each such premises or offices to the concerned Superintendent of Central Excise.(It may be noted that centralized registration procedure has not been discussed in this article)

Useful Hints for Filing Form No. ST-1

Service provider may note the following hints while obtaining registration-

1.     New Form ST-1 to be used for applying for new registration from 20.10.2005 and onwards. Old ST-1 will not be accepted.

2.     Same Form to be used for new registration and amendment/ endorsement to existing registration certificate.

3.     Same Form to be used for registration of single premises and centralized registration of all premises.

4.     Form ST-1 to be filed separately for registration of each premises.

5.     To be furnished by assessee in Central Excise Office where his jurisdiction falls to the concerned Superintendent of Central Excise.

6.     Where assessee is providing more than one taxable service, he may make a single application mentioned therein all the taxable services provided by him.

7.     Form can be signed by assessee or his representative.

8.     Fresh application should be made by any person (transferee) who has purchased the existing business of a registered service provider.

9.     Non-registration would attract a penalty upto Rs. 1000 for each default.

10.   Proof of address/residence/premises from where business is carried shall be required and should be attached to the form.

11.   Constitution of the applicant i.e., proprietorship, partnership firm, public limited company, private limited company, registered trust, society/cooperative society or other should be clearly indicated.

12.   For partnership firms, Department will ask for a copy of partnership deed as an evidence of partnership, which should be supplied.

13.   In case of a limited company, power of attorney and copy of Memorandum and Article of Association should be submitted.

14.   Income Tax PAN is also required to be mentioned.

15.   Centralized registration will be granted as per laid down procedure and Notification No. 29/2006-ST, dated 2-11-2006.

16.   For centralized registration, addresses of all the premises must be given.

17.   The applicant should also mention whether he is seeking registration as service provider or service receiver or input service distributor or small service provider (over Rs. 9 lakh).

18.   Applicants are also required to disclose telephone numbers, fax number, and e-mail address, wherever applicable.

19.   For registration of input service distributor, address of all the premises to which credit is or will be distributed should be mentioned.

20.   For amendments in existing certificate, original existing certificate must be enclosed

21.   Applicant may opt for receiving the registration certificate by mail/ hand/e-mail.

22.   For intimating any information/changes, information can be submitted online also after logging on to Department's website.

23.   On cessation of business, registration certificate should be surrendered to the concerned superintendent.

24.   On surrender, certificate will be cancelled if all monies due to the central government have been paid.

25.   Registration once taken can be cancelled by the assessee only.

26.   Same Form ST-1 is to be used by special categories of persons.

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Discussions to this article

[Prabhakar Gupta]

In service tax registration procedure, it has mention that only PAN copy and premises address proof are require to submit with ST-1. Is it mendatory to submit the other documentsas MOA etc. If yes, whether it has been specified under any provision of law. Please confirm.