Chennai jewellers unlikely to get relief from excise duty

Chennai: Jewellers protesting over the recently imposed excise duty are unlikely to see any relief coming their way as the chief commissioner of central excise on Tuesday made it clear that the government would not rollback the excise duty imposed in the Budget.

The move will not affect small jewellers including the artisans and goldsmiths as they are not required to register with central Excise, said excise commissioner J.M Kennedy. Much to the relief of small jewellers, Kennedy pointed out that the 1 per cent excise duty  will be imposed only on those manufacturers whose turnover during the preceding financial year exceeds Rs 12 crore. He also mentioned that small jewellers would be  eligible for exemptions up to Rs 50 lakh for March 2016.

“Through a simple online registry, jewelers can get registered in two days. Payment can  be done on monthly basis, with first installment of the duty payment for the month of March 2016 to be paid by March 31,” he said.

It was also learnt that there is no direction to the central excise officials to visit the  premises of the jewel manufacturers. “The procedure is based on self-assessment and voluntary compliance from the jewelers,” Kennedy said.