The Supreme Court of India stayed the sales tax recovery proceedings until the final hearing of Special Leave Petition ( SLP ) Against Sale Tax Demand. The SLP arose out of the impugned final judgment and order dated 15-03-2023 in WPC No. 13736/2017 passed by the High Court of Orissa.
A notice(s) issued in Form E-24 prescribed under Rule 10(6)(b) of the Odisha Entry Tax ( OET ) Rules read with Section sub-sections (10) and (11) of Section 7 of the OET Act, the Taxing Authority has not adhered to statutory procedure as clarified vide Toyo Engineering India Ltd. Vrs. Sales Tax Officer, wherein the Court was in seisin of notice in Form E-24 as also notice in Form E-8, the impugned notice(s) in Annexure-9 series are quashed.
The petitioner-dealer has filed its nil return for the period under consideration. Since it is not the case of the assessing officer that the dealer has admitted a certain amount towards its tax liability in the return and made less payment than the amount admitted to be payable by him in its return, he is not justified to issue a notice in Form E-24 and consequently demand notice in Form E-8 raising demand of Rs.13,33,115/-. According to the assessing officer, as per the figures furnished in the return the tax due for the period under consideration comes to Rs.13,33,115/- as various deductions claimed by the dealer, according to the assessing authority, are not admissible/allowable. In that event, the assessing officer shall issue a show cause, asking the dealer to pay the amount due on the return in Form E-22 and E-23 as provided under Rule 10(5).
The HC held that “To strike a balance between deprivation of the State of Odisha to utilize 2/3rd of the amount of tax since September 2009 till March 2017 at the relevant point of time and non-payment of the full amount of tax liability disclosed in the return(s) during this period by the petitioner, the aforesaid unpaid entry tax, for the period during which interim Order dated 30.10.2009 as modified vide Order dated 03.02.2010 passed by the Supreme Court of India in I.A. Nos. 327-651 filed by the State of Odisha in its appeals being SLP(C) Nos.14454-14778/2008 was operational, is directed to be deposited along with simple interest @ 9% per annum.”
The HC clarified that wherever assessments have been framed either under Section 9C or Section 10, the petitioner(s) is at liberty to approach the Appellate Authority under Section 16 of the OET Act within 30 days from today along with a petition for condonation of delay, which shall be considered by said Authority keeping in view pendency of writ petition(s) before the Court.
The Coram comprising Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan issued notice and held that “In the meanwhile, no steps shall be taken for recovery against the petitioners in Diary No.52265/2023 and Diary No.15/2024 based on the impugned judgment.”
Subscribe Taxscan Premium to view the JudgmentSupport our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan premium. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates
