SERVICE TAX AUDIT OPPORTUNITY IS MARKED BY STIFF CONDITIONS AND LOWER FEE

Objectionable Condition No. 1- On receipt of audit report, department may call the auditor for seeking any clarification or ask them to complete audit, if it is found that particular area has not been examined properly.
- It will only result in unending process and shall always be open to receive department dictates. After filling a report our disciplinary mechanism is there in case of any deficiency.

Objectionable Condition No. 2-The Audit shall be conducted in coordination with the departmental officers. In other words, the departmental officer shall also join the audit team of the nominated CA/ICWA to conduct the audit.
- The independence of the auditor shall be at stake. The Chartered accountant shall become a part of the department ultimately part of the games played by such departments.

Objectionable Condition No. 3- Further I am unable to understand how and on what basis or criteria are adopted for the fixation of the fees. The fees being fixed are not matching with the volume of work. How auditors can gives his true and fair view without audit and verification? This seems the intent of the Department is to obtain certification of the records, for such depressed sum.

As per notice, The Chartered Accountant so nominated is entitled to a fees depending upon the size of the unit under special audit. As per the present guidelines of CBEC, the Amount of such fee payable is mentioned below and I have added the probable turnover of the unit to understand the devaluation of the Chartered Accountants attestation services.

Sl. No.~
Service Tax paid by the Unit during the 2014-15~Fee Amount~~Probable Turnover
( i)~Up to Rs. 10 Crore~Rs. 15,000/‑~Say Rs. 81 Crore
(ii)~Rs. 10 Crore to Rs. 100 Crore~Rs. 25,000/‑~Say Rs. 810 Crore
(iii)~Rs. 100 Crore to Rs. 200 Crore~Rs. 35,000/‑~Say Rs. 1620 Crore
(iv)~Rs. 200 Crore and above~Rs. 50,000/-~Say Rs. 1620 Crore Onward