Excise duty refers to the taxes levied on the manufacture of goods within the country, as opposed to custom duty that is levied on goods coming from outside the country. Readers should note that GST has now subsumed a number of indirect taxes including excise duty. This means excise duty, technically, does not exist in India except on a few items such as liquor and petroleum. The information given below pertains to the functioning of Excise Duty in India before the implementation of GST regime.
Excise Duty is a form of indirect tax which is generally collected by a retailer or an intermediary from its consumers and then paid to the government. Although this duty is payable on manufacture of goods, it is usually payable when the goods are ‘removed’ from the place of production or from the warehouse for the purpose of sale. There is no requirement for the actual sale of the goods for imposing the excise duty because it is imposed on the manufacture of such goods. The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) is responsible for collecting excise duty.
