The Kerala High Court has recently held that the legal heir of a deceased person is liable to pay VAT arrears only to the extent he succeeded to the deceased person’s estate.
Assessee, one Mr. Mohammed Ibrahim died remaining the tax unpaid. Later, the Revenue continued the recovery proceedings against Mohammed Ibrahim’s legal heirs, including the petitioner. The petitioner challenged the recovery proceedings before the High Court contending that he has inherited no property from his father and therefore, he cannot be subjected to the recovery proceedings.
It was contended on behalf of the department that the petitioner is liable to answer the Department’s claim under Section 26(7) of the KVAT Act.
Indeed, the petitioner himself is not an assessee, nor has he owned any tax arrears to the Department. Instead, he was asked to answer the claim against his deceased father. The statutory mandate under Section 27 is unmistakable. A legal heir or representative is liable to answer the claim raised against the deceased only to the extent he has succeeded to the deceased person’s estate. At any rate, that is a disputed question of fact.
The Court further noticed the fact that the petitioner approached the District Collector and submitted a representation and the District Collector has already heard the petitioner. But he is yet to pass orders.
The Court accordingly, directed the District Collector to pass the orders expeditiously.
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