The move, which will affect 6,000 companies, is aimed at checking excise evasion. Official sources said the revenue department had sought the views of industry on the submission of production data for companies that contributed Rs 1 crore or more to the excise kitty through the Personnel Ledger Account.
The information, which will have to be sent to the chief commissioner concerned, will be in addition to the normal returns or statements that companies are required to submit.
The measure is part of the efforts to ensure that the excise mop-up target of Rs 121,533 crore (Rs 1215.33 billion) for the current fiscal year is met.
The government sources said the revenue department was of the view that the information would not be used for scrutiny or investigation of a case but to establish assessee-friendly contacts and ascertain shortfall in revenue, if any.
The finance ministry is also considering introducing new legal provisions to induce assessees to clear outstanding excise and Customs duty arrears by allowing attachment of immovable property.
The department also wants to have a standard quantity denominator for each commodity under the Central Excise Tariff. Under the existing rules, there is no standardisation of quantity denominator for most commodities.
For example, edible oil is measured in a variety of ways like litres, boxes and gallons. The revenue department has proposed that industrial units should submit a weekly statement of their quantitative production and the excise payable on it to the office of the chief commissioner concerned through e-mail.
According to the revenue department, each chief commissioner will have on an average around 40 industrial units under his jurisdiction. The department has already prepared a draft on the format of the data transmission.
Another measure under consideration is to make the e-filing of excise returns mandatory. At present, excise returns are mostly filed manually.
Action plan for Rs 121,533 cr target*
(*Budget estimate for excise collection in 2005-06)
More power for the attachment of immovable property for excise offences
Strengthening of commercial intelligence
Making mandatory e-filing of returns
Chief commissioners to work at reducing litigation
Focusing on reducing arrears
