TMI Blog1956 (4) TMI 30X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... f any other period: "Provided that no claim to refund of any tax paid under this Act shall be allowed unless it is made within twenty-four months from the date on which the order of assessment was passed or within twelve months of the final order passed on appeal, revision, or reference in respect of the order of assessment, whichever period is later. "Provided further that the Collector shall first apply the excess paid in respect of any period towards the recovery of any amount in respect of which a notice under sub-section (4) of section 12 may have been issued and shall then refund the balance remaining, if any". The assessment order was made on 28th November, 1952. On receipt of the application for refund dated 1st March, 1953, the Sal ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... delay in re- plying to their applications for refund, when he suggested that an appeal should be filed. According to the Additional Collector of Sales Tax, "if a dealer claims for a refund he has to put in his claim at the time of assessment before the Sales Tax Officer" and that even after the assessment order had been passed the applicants were at liberty to pre- fer an appeal against the assessment order in time if they subsequently thought that they had forgotten to put in their claim for refund at the time of assessment. As neither of these courses had been adopted by the applicants, the Additional Collector dismissed the application for refund, remarking, "For this rejection, therefore, the applicant has to thank himself". 2.. M ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... de within the period of limitation allowed for an application for refund. In the Sales Tax Act applicable to this case the period of limitation was one year instead of two years as in the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1946. In our opinion the view taken by the Additional Collector and pressed by Mr. Kabe is not correct, as section 13 of the Act makes no mention of any requirement that the claim for refund should be made before the assessment order is passed by the Sales Tax Officer. In a few cases the order of refund may be made by the assessing authorities, but that does not appear to be the general practice; there is no column in Form No. XIX in which the grant of a refund is to be shown. If an appli- cation for refund is not made before the asse ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... f these the ground of refund is the most im- portant item, and the omission to use the form in a case of this nature, in our opinion, must be regarded as an irregularity which does not vitiate the claim made or disentitle the officer in question to inquire further into the matter. In any case, if the application had to be rejected on the ground that it was not made in the necessary form, an order to that effect should have been passed, and an appeal would have been open to the applicants. This was not done, and the authorities below do not appear, at any stage, to have applied their minds to the merits of the claim to refund. It appears to us necessary that the Sales Tax Officer should now apply his mind to the applications making such clai ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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