The Commercial Tax Department, Bihar (“Department”) has, in a notification dated November 20, 2018, issued amendments to the Schedule of rates of tax on professions, trades, callings and employments under the Bihar Tax on Professions, Trades, Callings and Employments Act, 2011.
As per the Bihar Tax on Professions, Trades, Callings and Employments (Amendment) Act, 2018, Serial No. 2 of the Schedule has been substituted.
Now, Sr. No. 2 is now specifically directed to Dealers registered under the Bihar Value Added Tax Act, 2005 or Dealers registered only under the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 or Dealers registered under the Bihar Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and prescribes the rates of tax for them @ Rs. 2500/- per annum as against the earlier position which fixed the rate of profession tax @ Rs. 2000/- per annum for persons whose income exceeded Rs. 5 lakh per annum but did not exceed 10 lakh per annum.
Rule 3 of the Bihar Professional Tax Rules, 2011 has been substituted, revising the procedure for registration of employers for the purpose of collection of tax on professions, trades, callings and employments.
Under the new procedure every employer, before applying for registration, must first declare his Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number, mobile number, email address, in Part A of Form PT- I on the official website of the Commercial Tax Department.
The details disclosed would be validated directly from the database maintained by the Central Board of Direct Taxes after which a temporary reference number will be generated and communicated to the applicant on their mobile number and e-mail address.
This reference number must be used to electronically submit an application in Part B of Form PT- I on the Commercial Tax Department website. An acknowledgement of application will be received by the applicant after successful submission and the form will then be forwarded to the Incharge of the concerned circle who would grant registration.
The earlier procedure required a one-time submission of the Form PT-I with all details directly to the In-charge of the concerned circle. The In-charge of the circle would then verify the information disclosed in the form and grant the Registration certificate.
Now, verification of the data relating to Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number, mobile number, email address, from database maintained by the Central Board of Direct Taxes for the initial validation process has been digitized. Only the verification of other information such as PAN No., FAX No. Date of Taxability, etc. and final granting of registration will be done by the Incharge of the concerned circle. Applicants will, accordingly, have to go through a 2step procedure – initial verification in Part A of Form PT-I and registration application in Part B of Form PT- I.
The Amendment also allows deemed registration in case of failure of action on the part of the Incharge of the Circle within one working day. This will ensure timely registration for all applicants and the applicants will not face unnecessary delay in obtaining the registration certificate.
The Amendment states that the Certificate of Registration will be made available on the official website of the Commercial Tax Department, Bihar and will also be sent to the applicant on the e-mail address provided in the application.
The earlier provision had simply stated that a certificate of registration would be granted but no specific procedure for granting the certificate was provided.
Now, the position has been made clear that the certificate will be made available online and will also be sent to the applicant on the email address.
Form PT-I has been revised in accordance with the new procedure.
According to the amendments in Rule 3, the new provision references have been inserted in Rule 4, revising the procedure for enrollment of assessee/s along the same lines as the new procedure for registration of employers.
Form PT-IA has been revised accordingly.
Source: Commercial Tax Department, Bihar
