W.e.f. 1.10.2011, all the assessees are mandatorily required to file their return electronically irrespective of amount of service tax they have paid during the previous F/Y, in terms of Notification No. 43/2011-ST dated 25.08.2011. For this, one has to follow the procedure as follows:-
(A) Get Registered with ACES
1. Fill the “ACES DECLARATION FORM” available on the website www.servicetaxdelhi.gov.in and deposit it with the concerned Range Superintendent;
2. Please ensure to fill email-id correctly in the form because T-PIN and password will be communicated by the department to this email-id only;
3. After receiving the T-PIN and Password, visit the website www.aces.gov.in and Click on the service tax button provided on the left side of ACES Homepage to login;
4. Enter the T-PIN and password to log into the system. For first time login, ACES will mandatorily prompt for changing the password;
5. Set the new password. It is to note that user id (called as T-PIN) once selected can never be changed, even during the course of first time login;
6. For second and every subsequent login into ACES, take the note of this user-id and Password as set above
” IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT ALL THE ASSESSEE WHO ARE NOT REGISTERED WITH ACES SHOULD GET THEMSELVES REGISTERED WITH ACES WELL IN ADVANCE, TO AVIOD LAST DAYS RUSH AND FILE THE RETUN WITHIN TIME.
(B) How to fill the Return Electronically
There are two methods of filling the return electronically, namely:
1. Online filling of data in service tax return and then submit it.
2. Offline filling of data using excel utility and then upload it.
(1) Online Filing of data in Service Tax Return and Submit it
i. Login into ACES by entering the user-id and password. Home page of the assessee will appear;
ii. Under ‘RET’ Main menu, click on the ‘fill’ option of ‘fill ST-3′ sub-menu i.e. RET Menu Fill ST-3 Fill.
iii. A page will appear listing the Premises code and Address of the registered premises of the assesssee. Premises code will appear as hyperlink. Click on the hyperlink to prepare the ST-3 Return;
iv. After filling the return correctly, Click on the ‘SAVE’ Button appearing on last page and confirmation page of ST-3 will appear;
v. To Amend, Click on the ‘Modify’ button or ‘Save’ to store the Return in the database;
vi. To submit the ST-3 Return to the department, press “SUBMIT” button. Confirmation will appear for successful submission of ST-3 Return displaying the Unique No. for such Return;
vii. Return saved in ACES can be amended before submission by the assessee by clicking on the “Amend ST-3″ button under “Fill ST-3″ sub-menu.
viii. In the same way, Return after submission can be revised once in 90 days by clicking on the “Revise ST-3″ option of “Fill ST-3″ submenu.
(2) Offline filling of data using excel utility and then upload it;
i. Click on the ‘Download’ button provided on the left side of ACES Homepage and download excel utility by clicking on the hyperlink “Download ST3 Return Excel Utility”;
ii. Use the excel utility to prepare ST-3 return and click on “Validate & Submit” button on the last page to generate XML file;
iii. The XML file will be saved in the same folder where the download utility is saved by the user;
iv. To upload the ST-3 Return, login into ACES by entering the user-id and password. Click on “Upload File” option of “e-filing” submenu under “RET” Main Menu;
i.e. RET Main Menu e-filing Upload file
v. Click the “Save” button to save the return in the database of the assessee; Else click on “SUBMIT” button to file the return;
vi. Confirmation will appear for successful uploading of Return without any Unique No.;
vii. After uploading, click on “View Status” option of “e-filing” submenu under “RET” Menu to view status of Return. A return will be considered as filed only when its status is shown as ‘FILED’ which should be appeared on or before the last due date of 25th April/25th October, as the case may be, for treating the return ‘filed on time’.
(3) THE ASSESSEES CAN ALSO ‘VIEW’, ‘SAVE’ AND ‘PRINT’ THEIR FIELD ST-3 RETURN AT ANY TIME BY CLICKING ON THE BUTTON ‘VIEW ST-3′ UNDER ‘RET’ MENU AFTER SUUCESSFUL LOGIN INTO ACES.
