MANU/EXCR/0012/2016

Ministry : Ministry of Finance

Department/Board : CBEC Excise

Circular No. : 1023/11/2016-CX

Date : 08.04.2016

Notification/ Circulars Referred : Circular nos 162/73/95-CX dated 14.12.1995 MANU/EXCR/0064/1995;385/18/98-CX dated 30.03.98 MANU/EXCR/0019/1998

Citing Reference:
Circular nos 162/73/95-CX dated 14.12.1995 MANU/EXCR/0064/1995  Referred

385/18/98-CX dated 30.03.98 MANU/EXCR/0019/1998  Referred

To,

All Principal Chief Commissioners/Chief Commissioners of
Customs, Central Excise & Service Tax;
All Director Generals/Directors of Customs,
Central Excise & Service Tax;
All Principal Commissioners/Commissioners of
Customs, Central Excise & Service Tax
holding charge of Chief Commissioners;
Webmaster, CBEC

Adjudication of Show Cause Notices issued on the basis of CERA/CRA objection -reg

Madam/Sir,

Central Board of Excise and Customs has issued instructions from time to time regarding adjudication of show cause notices issued on the basis of audit objections of Central Excise Revenue Audit (CERA) and Customs Revenue Audit (CRA), which is receipt audit wing of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. The pendency position of such notices in the Call-Book has been reviewed and found to be larger than the number of audit objections which have been converted into Audit Paragraphs. After due examination, it was felt that there was a need to review the past practices and issue revised consolidated guidelines to provide a clear procedure for the field officers to deal with the CERA / CRA objections. The Tax Administration Reform Commission (TARC) report, representations received form trade and inputs received from field officers also indicated that there was a need to review past instructions to improve the ease of doing business and bring certainty regarding tax liability of an assessee. Accordingly, all past circulars and instructions on the subject are hereby rescinded and following procedure is prescribed for dealing with audit objections raised by CERA / CRA.

2. An audit objection may mature into an Audit Paragraph and become part of Audit Report periodically submitted by the office of CAG to the Parliament. Various stages involved in the life cycle of an audit objection and the timelines........