Madras High Court, in a recent ruling, held that the issues related to classification under the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act (TN VAT) cannot be adjudicated in a writ petition.
While dismissing the writ petition filed by M/s Best Metal Alloys, the Court observed that if the industrial input certificate does not contain requisite details, the Assessing Officer may return the same to the assessee to cure the defects.
The petitioner produced the industrial input certificate from the purchaser as required by the Assessing Officer. Since there is no statutory form, in which, such certificate should be produced, it is in the nature of declaration given by the purchaser. However, the Assessing Authority was not satisfied with the declaration and passed an order.
Aggrieved by the order, the petitioner approached the Court through a writ petition contending that if the declarations are not to the satisfaction of the Assessing Officer or there is any error, the Assessing Officer should have returned the certificate so as to enable the petitioner to rectify the defects and represent the same.
Dismissing the petition, Justice T S Sivagnanam observed that the issue relating to classification cannot be adjudicated in a writ petition and it is left open to the Assessing Officer to decide the same. “However, if the Assessing Officer is of the opinion that the industrial input certificate does not contain requisite details, he may return the same to the dealer so as to enable them to represent the certificate in a proper manner with full details.”
Read the full text of the Order below.
