The due date of filing Service Tax Return for the period Oct 16 to Mar 17 has been extended from 25th April 2017 to 30th April 2017. The reason for extension of due date is that there were issues on the ACES website as a result of which assessees were unable to file their Service Tax Return. There would be no late fee applicable for all service tax returns filed before 30th April 2017. This announcement has been made vide Order No. 1/2017 – Service Tax and the order is attached herewith for your ready reference:
For complete details on service tax returns, normal due dates, late filing fees and all other related matters, kindly refer the below article.
Service Tax Return – Overview
Every Assessee who has registered for Service Tax and has been assigned a Service Tax Registration No. is required to file a Service Tax Return on a half yearly basis. Irrespective of whether the Assessee has provided taxable services in the period or not, he is required to file his Service Tax Return on a half yearly basis before the due dates as mentioned below
| Period | Service Tax Return Due Date |
| Oct 16- Mar 17 | 25th April 2017 |
| Apr 17-Sept 17 | 25th Oct 2017 |
Although the Service Tax Return is filed half-yearly, payment of service tax received by the Service Provider shall be deposited with the Govt. on a monthly/quarterly basis.
- Recommended Read: Due Date for Payment of Service Tax
The Service Tax Return is required to be filed in “Form ST-3” or “ST-3A” as the case may be and shall include the following monthwise details
- The Value of Taxable Services Charged/Billed
- The Value of Taxable Services realised
- The Amount of Service Tax Payable/Paid
As per Notification No. 43/2011 – Service Tax dated 25-08-2011, efiling of Service Tax Returns in Form ST-3 has been made mandatory for all assesses from 1st Oct 2011. Earlier physical filing was also permitted but now all asseesees are required to file the Return online on www.aces.gov.in.
The assesse shall register on this website and then file ST-3 return with the username and password allocated to him at the time of online registration. The ST-3 Excel Return filing utility can be downloaded from http://acesdownload.nic.in/
For an Assessee who provides more than one taxable service, only a single service tax return will sufficient. However the details in each of the columns of the Forms ST-3 have to be furnished separately for each of the services rendered by him.
If the Return is being filed for the 1st time, it shall be accompanied by a list of all accounts maintained by the assessee in relation to service tax including memorandum received from his branch offices.
In case of any error or omission in the Return, an assessee shall furnish a Revised Return of service tax within 90 days from the date of submission of the Original Return.
Late fee for Delay in filing Service Tax Return
If the Service Tax Return is not filed before the due date of filing of Service Tax Return, Late Fee shall be liable to be paid as follows
| Delay in Filing of Return after Due Date | Late Fees |
| First 15 days | Rs. 500 |
| 15-30 days | Rs. 1000 |
| More than 30 days | Rs. 1000 + Rs. 100 per day beyond 30 days |
| The Maximum Late Fee payable is Rs. 20,000 | |
How to file Service Tax Return
Every person/organisation having a Service Tax Registration No. is required to file Service Tax Return on a half yearly basis. Physical forms are not available for filing the Service Tax Returns and Service Tax Return can only be filed online.
A person can either himself file the Service Tax Return online or hire a professional do file the Service Tax Return on his/her behalf. As Service Tax Returns are a bit complicated and are not as simple as filing an income tax return online, therefore most people prefer to file the Service Tax Returns through a professional.
A lot of complicated details are required to be furnished in the service tax return and therefore most people prefer to file the service tax returns through a professional itself. Moreover, with the growth of internet hiring a professional online has become much easier and people have now started filing returns through professionals online itself as it is much more convenient and the professional charges are also much lesser.
