GREEN CARD UNDER KERALA VALUE ADDED TAX ACT, 2005

[Mr. M. GOVINDARAJAN]

Green Card

Section 19A of the Kerala Value Added Tax Act, 2005 (‘Act’ for short) provides that every registered dealer satisfying the criteria as may be prescribed, may be issued a ‘Green Card’ for such speeding up clearances of his consignments at the check posts  and such other purposes as may be prescribed.  This section was inserted by Section 10 of Finance Act, 2006.

Criteria to be satisfied

Rule 21A of Kerala Value Added Tax Rules, 2005 provides for the procedure for getting the green card by a dealer registered under the Act.  Rule 21A The dealer, satisfying the following criteria, may be issued green card by the Commissioner of Commercial Taxes  under Section 19A of the Act, namely:-

• Dealers with annual net tax remittance of minimum ₹ 50 lakhs in the previous financial year;
• Dealers who have filed all returns in time without incurring any delay for the previous year;
• Dealers who have submitted their statutory forms like delivery notes and F Form within the stipulated period for the previous year;
• Dealers who have not been penalized by the Commercial Taxes Department for any offence for the previous three years;

Entitlements to the Green Card holder

Every Green card holder shall be entitled to the following facilities by getting the green card:

• Clearance of all their consignments at all check posts within two hours;
• Priority in issue of statutory forms like delivery note, C Form (Form of Declaration), F Form (Form of declaration to be issued by the transferee);
• Grant of statutory forms like delivery note C Form, F Form, and salesman permit in one hour of application;
• Grant of branch registration in one day within the same district and within three days in areas outside the district where the principal office is situated;
• Grant of value added tax refund without pre-audit;
• Exemption from collection of advance tax.

These entitlements have been provided vide Notification No. S.R.O. No. 840/2010, dated 16.08.2010 and came into effect on the same date.

Validity of Green Card

The Green card shall be valid for a period of one year.  The green card shall be invalid if the holder of the green card is penalized under the provisions of the Kerala General Sales Tax, 1963, Kerala Value Added Tax Act, 2003 or the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956.

Procedure for getting Green Card

The dealer who fulfils the criteria required to be satisfied by the Commercial Tax Officer may file application for getting Green Card in Form No.46, in duplicate to the Commissioner through the assessing authority, duly recommended by the concerned Deputy Commissioner.   The following details are to be furnished in Form No. 46-

• Name and address of the dealer;
• TIN/CST number of the dealer;
• Nature of business;
• Major Commodities dealt with;
• Date of commencement of business;
• Total turnover of the previous year;
• Taxable turnover of the previous year;
• Total tax remitted in the previous year;
• Details of delay in filing return, if any;
• Details of filing of statutory forms in time, if not reasons for the same;
• Details of penalty imposed during the previous year;
• Details of any offence was booked;
• Declaration by the applicant.

The above details would be verified by the Assessing Authority and give verification report for the issue of green card and forward the same to the Commissioner of Commercial Tax, who in turn will issue the green card.

Monitoring Mechanism

A special cell has been set up in the Commissionerate to monitor the achievement of the timeliness mentioned above and for attending to the grievances of the green card holders.  If, any green card holder is detected of any wrong doing under the Acts administered by the Department, the green card shall be invalidated forthwith and stiffer penalties will be imposed on the dealer.