In exercise of the powers conferred by section 63 read with section 28 of the Himachal Pradesh Value Added Tax Act, 2005(Act No.12 of 2005), the Governor, Himachal Pradesh is pleased to make the following rules further to amend the Himachal Pradesh Value Added Tax Rules, 2005, notified vide this Department Notification No.EXN-F(5)-4/2005 dated 2nd December, 2005 and published in the Rajpatra, Himachal Pradesh (Extra Ordinary) dated 7th December,2005, namely:-

1. Short title.

These rules may be called the Himachal Pradesh Value Added Tax( 4th Amendment) Rules, 2015.

2. Insertion of new rules 75 B, 75 C, 75 D, 75 E and 75 F.

In the Himachal Pradesh Value Added Tax Rules, 2005, after rule 75A, the following rules 75 B, 75 C, 75 D, 75 E and 75 F shall be inserted, namely:-

"75 B. Pre-assessment claim of excess input tax credit related refund.-

For the purpose of first proviso to sub-section(1) of section 28 a dealer may apply for pre-assessment refund of excess input tax credit against bank guarantee of equal amount subject to the following conditions:-

(i) the dealer has a gross turnover of five crore rupees and above in the preceding year;

(ii) all statutory Forms under the Himachal Pradesh Value Added Tax Act, 2005 and Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, as applicable, for the year under pre-assessment refund claim, have been submitted alongwith the application for refund;

(iii) the dealer is not a tax or return defaulter and has not been penalized for any offence under the Himachal Pradesh Value Added Tax Act, 2005 for the past three years;

(iv)the dealer must have filed all such returns online electronically for the period to which the claim pertains;

(v) the claim for refund has been filed in Form VAT-XLV by the dealer;

(vi)the claimant dealer shall be solely responsible for verification of the tax payments made by the sellers on whose tax invoices he has claimed the input tax credit and shall ensure that the sellers have deposited the tax in respect of his purchases from them. If the sellers have not paid the tax, the claimant dealer shall make the said payment alongwith interest. However, for the year 2014-15 onwards such claims shall be entertained only if the tax payment by all the dealers involved in the input tax credit have been made electronically through the official website of the Department; and

(vii) the refund claim may be claimed manually or electronically through the official website of the Department.

75 C. Bank Guarantee for pre-assessment refund.-

Bank Guarantee for such pre-assessment refund claims may be accepted subject to satisfaction of the following conditions:-

(i) Bank guarantee shall be for an amount equal to the amount being claimed as refund;

(ii) Bank Guarantee shall be from any branch of a bank notified as a Government Treasury. A non-resident dealer may furnish a bank guarantee from any branch, situated outside Himachal Pradesh of a bank which is notified as Government Treasury in Himachal Pradesh; and

(iii) Bank guarantee furnished shall be for a period of 36 months.

75 D. Grant of pre-assessment refund against Bank Guarantee.-

Subject to furnishing of correct and complete application in Form VAT-XLV and bank guarantee under rule 75 C, the prescribed Authority under sub-rule(1) of rule 75 shall grant refund to the dealer within 45 days of the application filed by the dealer.

75 E. Assessment of pre-assessment refund.-

The Assessing Authority shall assess every case where pre-assessment refund has been granted within 18 months of the grant of such refund.

75F. Scrutiny of pre-assessment refund.-

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in rule 66, the Assessing Authority or the Audit Cell in the office of Excise and Taxation Commissioner shall scrutinize and finalize every case where pre-assessment refund has been granted within 36 months of the grant of such refund.

(2) If upon scrutiny of such refund the Assessing Authority concludes that the refund has been willfully and fraudulently claimed, it shall impose a penalty equal to twice the amount of refund so claimed.

(3) If, scrutiny of such cases are not completed within 36 months, as required under sub-rule(1), the Bank Guarantee may be re-rolled over or a fresh Bank Guarantee may be obtained.".

By Order

Additional Chief Secretary(E&T) to the

Government of Himachal Pradesh