VAT Act Do Not Provide For The Registration Of FIR: Punjab And Haryana High Court Quashes FIR For Alleged Tax Evasion

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that the provisions of the VAT Act do not provide for the registration of the FIR, and since the VAT Act is a code in itself, the provisions of the IPC also cannot be invoked. Therefore, an FIR could not have been registered against a person who has allegedly evaded tax.The single bench of Justice Jasjit Singh Bedi has observed that there is no provision for the registration of an FIR in matters such as those of alleged tax evasion. The provisions of...

VAT Defaulter Not Liable To Pay Collection Charges If Opts Amnesty Scheme: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court has held that collection charges are not payable if a VAT defaulter opts for the Kerala Amnesty Scheme, 2017.The single bench of Gopinath P. has noted that the petitioner had settled the liabilities in terms of the provisions contained in the Amnesty Scheme of 2017, which was introduced by the provisions contained in the Kerala Finance Act 2017.The court stated that as per the provisions of Section 31A(2) of the Kerala Finance Act, 2017, the assessee/defaulter will not be...

No Legislative Competence To Amend KVAT Act After Introduction Of GST Act: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court has held that legislative competence to amend the Kerala Value Added Tax (KVAT) Act after the introduction of the GST Act is impermissible.The division bench of S.V.Bhatti and Justice Basant Balaji has observed that the amendment made by the Finance Act of 2018 to the provisions of the erstwhile KVAT Act to enable the department to initiate assessment proceedings in respect of assessments pending as of March 31, 2018 was illegal because the KVAT Act has already been...

10% VAT Payable On Insulated Glass: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court has held that 10% Value Added Tax (VAT) is payable on insulated glass.The single judge bench of Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh has observed that insulated glass is nothing but double glazed dual sheet (DGDS). The department has filed the revision against the order passed by the Trade Tax Tribunal. In that order, the Tribunal has allowed the assessee's appeal and held that insulated glass manufactured and sold by the assessee falls within the general description of...

Dept. To Follow Procedure Set Out In Circular On The Issues Of Mismatch: Madras High Court Quashes VAT Assessment

The Madras High Court bench of Justice Anitha Sumnath has quashed the VAT assessment and directed the department to follow the procedure set out in the circular regarding the issue of mismatch. The petitioner has challenged the assessment order passed under the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act, 2006 for the period 2013–14. The substantial addition to turnover was on the ground of a mismatch of particulars between the details contained in the returns filed by the...

Cash Sales Accepted By VAT Dept. Not Sufficient To Hold It To Be Genuine: Himachal Pradesh High Court

The Himachal Pradesh High Court has held that the cash sales accepted by the VAT department are not sufficient to hold that the cash sales were genuine. The division bench of Justice Sabina and Justice Satyen Vaidya has held that the Assessing Officer was liable to independently look into the cash sales to come to a conclusion as to whether the said sales were genuine or not. The Assessing Officer, as well as the Appellate Authority, rightly gave the finding of fact that the cash sales...

Telangana High Court Holds Telangana Value Added Tax (Second Amendment) Act, 2017 To Be Unconstitutional

The Telangana High Court has held that the Telangana Value Added Tax (Second Amendment) Act, 2017 is unconstitutional.The division bench of Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice P. Madhavi Devi has observed that the intention of Parliament in ushering in the GST regime through the Constitution Amendment Act, enactment of the CGST Act and simultaneous enactment of various State GST Acts by the State Legislatures was to avoid a multiplicity of taxes by subsuming those indirect taxes into a...

Madras High Court Upholds Validity Of Section 6 Of The Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act 2006

The Madras High Court recently upheld the validity of amendments made to Section 6 of The Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act, 2006. The court observed that in matters relating to tax, the interest of the State must be considered as against the interest of certain individuals. The court also discussed the power of the legislature in taking decisions with respect to tax "The hardship that is caused to individuals seldom matters as validity of any fiscal enactment ought to be tested on the...

Outright Rejection Of Stay Application Is Not Justified, Need To Exercise The Appellate And Revisional Jurisdiction Judicially:Telangana High Court

The Telangana High Court has held that the appellate and revisional authorities must judiciously exercise their discretionary power to grant a stay under the Telangana VAT Act.A division bench of Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice Surepalli Nanda, while staying the demand in terms of the assessment order, directed the petitioner to deposit twelve and a half percent of the disputed tax within a period of 30 days. The petitioner/assessee was a registered dealer under the Telangana Value...

Assessee To Claim Refund of Tax Collected By State Without Authority Within 3 Years From The Date of Payment: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court bench of Justice R.Mahadevan and Justice Mohhammed Shaffiq has held that any tax collected without authority would certainly amount to unjust enrichment and the assessees must claim a refund of the tax collected or retained by the state within three years from the date of their payments to the department.The assessee has sought the order to quash the orders passed by the respective Assessing Officers as it relates to reversal of Input Tax Credit (ITC) under the...

Gujarat High Court Condemns Coercive Steps Taken By Dept. For Recovery Of Dues From Wipro While Appeal Was Pending

The Gujarat High Court bench of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Nisha M. Thakore has condemned the coercive steps of the department for recovery of dues from Wipro when the appeal was pending before the first appellate authority as well as the Tribunal.The writ petitioner, Wipro Ltd. is in the business of information technology services, including the sale of hardware and software, the sale of consumer products, and the supply and installation of solar power generation plants. The writ...

Section 44 Of GVAT Act Akin To Garnishee Order; Requires Debtor-Creditor Relationship: Gujarat High Court

"It can be said that in interpreting a taxing statute, the equitable considerations are entirely out of place. The reasons of morality and fairness can have no application to bring a citizen who is not within the four corners of the taxing statute within its fold so as to make him liable to payment of tax," Justice JB Pardiwala of the Gujarat High Court has opined. The Bench was hearing a writ application under Art 226 wherein the Applicants had prayed for the quashment of the impugned...