TMI Blog1993 (12) TMI 219X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e assessment year 1989-90, that is to say, 1988-89, exceeded Rs. 10 lakhs and the taxable turnover for the subsequent assessment years till up to now, it is said, did not at all fall below Rs. 10 lakhs. 2.. While so, it filed W.P. No. 9880 of 1988 before this Court challenging the constitutional vires of entries 7(a) and 7(b) of the Second Schedule to the TNGST Act, purporting to levy sales tax both on raw hides and skins and dressed hides and skins. There was a stay, it is said, of further proceedings, pending disposal of the writ petition, which event happened on April 23, 1993. Subsequent to the dismissal of the writ petition, it appears that there was no further agitation by way of appeal before this Court. 3.. Consequently, the Deput ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... te (Taxes) to take notice and he accordingly did so and produced the relevant file. Arguments of either learned counsel were heard. 6. There is no pale of controversy and there cannot be anything like that, inasmuch as the records produced reveal, in unmistakable terms, that the taxable turnover of the petitioner never fell below Rs. 10 lakhs on and from the assessment year 1988-89 till up to now. Section 2 of the Tamil Nadu Additional Sales Tax Act, 1970 (Act 14 of 1970) provides for levy of additional tax at prescribed rate of tax at the slabs mentioned therein, if the taxable turnover exceeds Rs. 10 lakhs. Where the taxable turnover exceeds Rs. 10 lakhs, but does not exceed Rs. 40 lakhs, then the rate prescribed for levy of additional t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nt in all those years. In respect of assessment years 1989-90 to 1991-92 (up to September, 1991), the tax effect does not exceed 4 per cent. As respects the rest of the five months for the assessment year 1991-92 commencing from October, 1991 to February, 1992, the prescribed levy of sales tax in respect of those goods under the TNGST Act itself is 4 per cent and the addition of 1.25 per cent by way of additional tax, would be exceeding 4 per cent and consequently, in respect of such period, addition of additional sales tax at 1.25 per cent is not permissible. For the assessment year 1992-93, the prescribed levy under the TNGST Act in respect of raw hides and skins is 4 per cent and consequently, addition of additional sales tax at 1.25 per ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... g the fact that it had not paid such additional tax, the department was rather handicapped in recovering the additional sales tax, quantified in a specified sum, as mentioned in the impugned proceedings, as a consequence of stay obtained by the petitioner, pursuant to writ proceedings initiated in this Court and the stay so obtained got actually vacated on April 23, 1993, by the dismissal of the writ petition itself. Such being the case, necessity arose for issuance of the impugned proceedings demanding payment of such tax in one lump sum payable for all the months of the assessment years aforesaid. The petitioner, being a rule 18(3) assessee, tax for the concerned month within the prescribed date must have to be paid without any provisiona ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... issuing the impugned proceedings to the petitioner-assessee demanding payment of the additional sales tax arrears payable within the prescribed time on each of the months of the period of assessment, of course, by way of one composite notice, about which there is no prohibition at all intimating it that the non-payment of the same is likely to result in coercive proceedings for recovery of arrears of such tax, by resorting to the provisions of the Revenue Recovery Act. In such a situation, I am unable to see anything wrong in the issuance of such proceedings. 12.. For the above reasons, it goes without saying that the writ petition deserves to be dismissed, even at the admission stage and the same is accordingly dismissed. Consequently, W. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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