February 22, 2007

The Chairman & Managing Director/ Managing Director
State Bank of India and its Associates/Allahabad Bank/Bank of Baroda/Bank of
India/Bank of Maharashtra/Canara Bank/Central Bank of India/Corporation Bank/
Dena Bank/Indian Bank/Indian Overseas Bank/Punjab National Bank/ Syndicate
Bank/UCO Bank/Union Bank of India/United Bank of India/Vijaya Bank/UTI Bank
Ltd/HDFC Bank Ltd/ICICI Bank Ltd/IDBI Ltd

Dear Sir,

As you are aware Electronic Accounting System in Excise and Service Tax is operational as a pilot in Chennai since 2005. Further it has been extended to other parts of the country. However, only Excise challans were covered under the system so far. Central Board of Excise and Customs has now decided to include Service Tax also in EASIEST from March 1 2007 so that service tax challan data also will be captured through EASIEST package. The Accounting procedure for Service Tax will be similar to that for Excise till further instructions. For including Service Tax in EASIEST all relevant Directories and Assessee profiles should be updated at your end as an advance preparation. You are advised to initiate the necessary steps for smooth inclusion of service tax under EASIEST.

Yours faithfully

(M.T.Varghese)
General Manager