Time Limit for Enquiry

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

Dear Sir,

As per Section 72A of Finance Act, 1994 talks about Special Audit in the circumstances given in the said section. Section 82 Power to search premises, give authority to department to do search activity in certain circumstances prescribed in the act. Section 83, applicability of certain provisions of Central Excise Act, 1944.

The above section gives power to department to carry out checking of Assesses. I would like to get clarification as regard the power of authority to ask for the details related to other party dealing from the assessee company. Say for eg. The service tax liability on GTA falls on the party paying the freight amount. As agreed the customer is paying the service tax, hence company is out of the purview of service tax liability under GTA. In order to ensure or to check the tax compliance, the Central excise department is asking the details of the customers.

In the frame of Act, is there any section of case laws discussing about the power of authority to call for the details of customer /consignee. kindly through some light in this regards

regards,

ganeshan

AI Summary

Central Excise Department Can Request Customer Details Under Section 14 for Service Tax Verification on GTA Services. A user inquired about the authority of the Central Excise Department to request customer details from a company under the Finance Act, 1994, specifically regarding service tax liability on Goods Transport Agency (GTA). They questioned the legal basis for such requests and the duration for which details can be demanded. A response clarified that Section 14 of the Central Excise Act, 1944, applicable to service tax, empowers officers to request documents for inquiries. This is done to verify compliance, cross-check records, and ensure correct duty payments. The department may request customer information for these verification purposes.