e-file service tax returns through ACES website

Can you guide us on how to do the e-filing of service tax return that has been made compulsory from 01.10.2011?
— Rishabh
Service tax half-yearly returns need to be filed through the government automation of central excise and service tax (ACES) website. First you need to have a login id and password from the ACES website for new user registration in case you wish to register with the service tax authorities.  For existing assessees who are already registered with the service tax authorities, they will have to fill in an ACES

Declaration form giving details such as Name of the assessee, 15 digit PAN based service tax registration no, division & group number of service tax department, Email Id, Constitution, phone number, contact person’s name.

Based on the information provided in the ACES declaration, service tax department will send you a mail with the link to ACES website on the email id provided. It will also contain a temporary password which has to be changed at the time of first login on the website.  Once you have changed the temporary password, you then need to download the Service tax return filling Form ST-3 utility file. You can either download the form ST-3 or fill the form offline completely or the form ST-3 can be filled online also.  

If the Form ST-3 is downloaded to be filled offline then the entire form has to be filled and each and every sheet has to be validated and then the entire return has to be validated. Once this process is done an .org file will be created which needs to be uploaded in the ACES website after logging into the site using your user id and password. The .org file needs to be uploaded from the RET option on the site. Once the return is uploaded, the status needs to be checked after one working day. If the status is filled that means the return has been accepted by the system. In case the status shown is rejected then you need to check on the errors pointed out and after making the necessary changes in the Form ST-3 re-send the revised Form ST-3 to the service tax department following the same procedure as mentioned above.

1 The writer is with M Sheth& Co, a chartered accountancy firm in Mumbai and can be reached at mshethco@yahoo.co.in