Claim of Cenvat before registration.

[Guest]

We are bringing a new dairy unit in Distt. Ludhiana of Punjab. We have applied for the Central Excise Registration but the deptt has returned the application that the registration cannot be granted at the initial stage when the civil work has not completed. But noe we have progressed about 40-50% of civil work and machinery has started coming in on which we wish to avail the cenvat credit. can your expert team through light on this issue of registration. and how can the cenvat can be claimed on the items received at the site before having the registration.

[Ravi Chopra]

1 First of all the action of department by denying the grant of registration number is totally unwarranted and you can contact higher authority for resolving such issues. 2 In Excise / service tax or cenvat credit there is no such condition that you must have been registered at the time of procurement of input or input services or capital goods. If you have used input, input services services or capital goods which are eligible for cenvat credit, you make keep the track and record of the same and will be eligible to avail the benefit of the same despite the fact that registration has been granted later.

AI Summary

Cenvat credit can be claimed for inputs received before registration if records are maintained and registration follows. Registration is not a precondition to acquiring inputs, input services or capital goods eligible for Cenvat credit; taxpayers who receive eligible items before formal registration must maintain contemporaneous records and evidence of use so they can claim the accumulated credit once registration is obtained, and may seek higher administrative recourse if registration is improperly denied.