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2023 (2) TMI 62 - HC - VAT and Sales TaxLevy of local body tax - Dealer or Commission Agent or Importer? - it is submitted that the Petitioner is not liable under the provisions of Local Body Tax Rules and as such is not required to register himself under these rules to pay any local body tax - Maharashtra Municipal Corporation (Local Body Tax) Rules, 2015, r/w. relevant provisions of the Municipal Corporation Act, 1888 - HELD THAT:- In the present case, the goods which are brought from outside by the Petitioner into the limits of Pune Municipal Corporation, as can be seen from the operations carried out by the Petitioner, are not for his own use or for earning commission or sale, but are for the purpose of being delivered at the door step of the individual buyer. In other words, what the Petitioner is doing here is import of goods for the purpose of delivery to some other person and for this purpose, the Petitioner acts like a courier or postman or delivery person. Thus, activity of the Petitioner would not be covered by the definition of the word “importer”. If the Petitioner cannot be called to be a person who “imports” goods into the city limits for use or consumption or sale and if the Petitioner is also not the person who is alleged to be selling or buying goods for commission or remuneration or otherwise in the city, the Petitioner would not be a “dealer” within the contemplation of Section 2(16A). If this is so, then the Petitioner would not be liable for any registration for the purpose of LBT under rule 3 of the LBT Rules. In the present case, the Petitioner is not a dealer within the contemplation of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act and therefore would not be a dealer as envisaged under Rule 3 of LBT Rules. As regards commission agent, or any other agent, we must say that the impugned order considers the Petitioner as a commission agent but, having regard to activity carried out by the Petitioner and service rendered by it, we have already found that the Petitioner, is a person who brings goods within the limits of the Corporation for the purpose of their delivery to the buyer who buys the goods independently from different seller by using internet platform provided by Flipkart and thus, the Petitioner acts like courier or a postman or a delivery person. Therefore, the Petitioner could not be said to be an agent, either of the seller or the buyer much less a commission agent. All these aspects of the matter which are very critical for the purpose of assessment and levy of local body tax have not been considered by the Municipal Commissioner, Pune. The impugned order is illegal and bad-in-law. Such an order cannot be sustained in the eyes of law and deserves to be quashed and set aside - Petition allowed.
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