The Central Excise Day is annually observed across India on 24th February to honour the contributions of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), a part of the Department of Revenue under the Ministry of Finance.
- The day also commemorates the anniversary of the enactment of the Central Excise and Salt Act on 24th February 1944.
The day is annually organised and celebrated by the CBIC.
Objective:
To encourage the employees of the excise department to carry out the duties of central excise across India in a better way in order to prevent corruption in the goods manufacturing business.
What is Indirect Tax?
i.Indirect tax is the tax imposed by the government on a taxpayer for goods and services bought. It is a tax levied on the consumption of goods and services.
ii.The Indirect taxes include sales tax, entertainment tax, excise duty and others.
iii.The Goods and Services Tax(GST) is an indirect tax that replaced many indirect taxes in India such as the excise duty, value-added tax (VAT), services tax, etc.
- The GST Act was passed in Parliament on 29th March 2017 and came into effect on 1st July 2017.
Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC):
i.Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), erstwhile Central Board of Excise & Customs(CBEC), is the nodal national agency responsible for administering Customs, GST, Central Excise, Service Tax & Narcotics in India.
ii.It is one of the boards constituted under the statute the Central Boards of Revenue Act, 1963 (54 of 1963).
- CBIC is the administrative authority for its subordinate organizations including Custom Houses, Central Excise and Central GST Commissioners, and the Central Revenues Control Laboratory.
Renaming:
i.The renaming of CBEC as CBIC was announced by then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley during the Union Budget 2018-2019, with the enactment of the Finance Act, 2018.
ii.The renaming was necessitated due to the enactment of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Roles:
i.CBIC formulates the policies concerning levy and collection of Customs, Central Excise duties, Central Goods & Services Tax and Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST).
ii.It also works towards the prevention of smuggling and administration of matters relating to Customs, Central Excise, Central Goods & Services Tax, IGST and Narcotics.
About Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC):
Chairman– Vivek Johri
Headquarters– New Delhi, Delhi
Motto– “Desh Sevarth Kar Sanchay” Tax collection in Service of the Nation
