The following Act of the Kerala State Legislature is hereby published for general information. The Bill as passed by the Legislative Assembly received the assent of the Governor on the 13th day of November, 2016.
By order of the Governor,
B. G. HARINDRANATH,
Law Secretary.
Extract of THE KERALA FINANCE ACT, 2016
Act No. 18 of 2016
An Act to give effect to certain financial proposals of the Government of Kerala for the Financial Year 2016-2017.
Preamble.- Whereas, it is expedient to give effect to certain financial proposals of the Government of Kerala for the Financial Year 2016-2017;
Be it enacted in the Sixty-seventh Year of the Republic of India as follows:-
1. Short title and commencement.-
(1) This Act may be called the Kerala Finance Act, 2016.
(2) Save as otherwise provided in this Act,-
(i) Clause (b) of sub-section (8) of section 9 shall be deemed to have come into force on the 1st day of April, 2005;
(ii) Clause (b) of sub-section (2) of section 9 shall be deemed to have come into force on the 1st day of April, 2013;
(iii) Sub-clause (i) of clause (a) of sub-section (2) and item (d) of sub-clause (ii) of clause (a) of sub-section (2) of section 9 shall be deemed to have come into force on the 1st day of April, 2015;
(iv) "section 2, clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 3, clause (b) of sub-section (3) of section 3, section 4";, section 8, item (a) of sub-clause (i) of clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 9, item (a) of sub-clause (ii) of clause (a) of sub-section (2) of section 9, sub-section (4) of section 9, sub-clauses (i), (ii), (iii) and (v) of clause (a) of sub-section (16) of section 9 shall be deemed to have come into force on the 1st day of April, 2016;
(v) sub-section (2) of section 3, clauses (a), (c), (d), (f), (g), (h), (i), (j) and (k) of sub-section (3) of section 3, section 5, section 6, sub-clause (i) and sub-clause (ii) of clause (b) and clause (c) of section 7, item (b) and (c) of sub-clause (i) of clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 9, sub-clause (ii) of clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 9, clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 9, items (b) and (c) of sub-clause (ii) of clause (a) of sub-section (2) of section 9, sub-section (3) and sub-sections (5) to (7), clause (a) of sub-section (8) and sub-section (9) to (15) of section 9, sub-clause (iv), sub-clauses (vi), (vii), (viii) and (ix) of clause (a) of sub-section (16) of section 9 and clause (b) and sub-clauses (i), (ii), (iii), (v), (vi), (vii) and (viii) of clause (c) and (d) of sub-section (16) of section 9 shall be deemed to have come into force on the 18th day of July, 2016;
(vi) The remaining provisions of this Act shall come into force at once.
2. Amendment of Act 11 of 1957.-
In the Kerala Surcharge on Taxes Act, 1957 (11 of 1957), in section 3,-
(a) after sub-section (1A), the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely:-
"(1AA) The tax payable under section 6 of the Kerala Value Added Tax Act, 2003 (30 of 2004), shall, with respect to the sale of water, soda, soft drinks, fruit juices and other beverages whether aerated or not, intended for human consumption and sold in containers of plastic but excluding those sold in such containers of and above 20 litres, be increased by a surcharge at the rate of five per cent and the same shall be paid over to the Government and further, the provisions of the Kerala Value Added Tax Act, 2003 (30 of 2004) excluding those related to input tax credit and special rebate shall apply in relation to the said surcharge as they apply in relation to the tax payable under the said Act.";
(b) in sub-section (2), for the word, brackets, figure and letter "sub-sections (1) and (1A)" the word, brackets, figure and letter "sub-sections (1), (1A) and (1AA)" shall be inserted;
(c) in sub-section (3), for the word, brackets, figure and letter "sub-sections (1) and (1A)" the word, brackets, figure and letter "sub-sections (1), (1A) and (1AA)" shall be inserted;
5. Amendment of Act 15 of 1963.-
In the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963 (15 of 1963), in section 23B -
(a) for sub-section (1), the following sub-section shall be substituted, namely:-
"(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act or in any judgment, decree or order of any court, Tribunal, or Appellate Authority, an assessee who is in arrears of tax or any other amount due under this Act or the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 (Central Act 74 of 1956) relating to the period ending on 31st March, 2005, may opt for settling the arrears by availing a complete reduction of the interest on the tax amount and for the amount of penalty and interest thereon:
Provided that nothing in this section shall apply to a public sector undertaking under the control of Government of India.";
(b) in sub-section (3), for the words and figures "31st August, 2014", the words and figures "28th February, 2017" shall be substituted;
(c) in sub-section (4), for the words and figures "31st December, 2014", the words and figures "28th February, 2017" shall be substituted;
(d) after sub-section (7), the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely:-
"(8) If a dealer is continuing business even after the commencement of the Kerala Value Added Tax Act, 2003 (30 of 2004) he shall get himself registered thereunder before filing option for payment of arrears under sub-section (1).".
10. Validation.-
(1) Notwithstanding the lapse of the Kerala Finance Bill, 2016 (Bill No. 396 of Thirteenth Kerala Legislative Assembly) (hereinafter referred to as the said Bill) and the cesser of force of law of the declared provisions of said Bill anything done or any action taken, including levy and collection of tax or duty, during the period from the 1st day of April, 2016 to the 17th day of July, 2016, by virtue of the declared provisions contained in the said bill, under the Kerala Surcharge on Taxes Act, 1957 (11 of 1957) or under the Kerala Stamp Act, 1959 (17 of 1959) or under the Kerala Court Fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1959 (10 of 1960) or under the Kerala Tax on Luxuries Act, 1976 (32 of 1976) or under the Kerala Agricultural Income Tax Act, 1991 (15 of 1991) or under the Kerala Value Added Tax Act, 2003 (30 of 2004) (hereinafter shall be deemed to be and to have always been for all purposes, validly and effectively done or taken under the provisions of the respective Acts, as if the said amendments had been in force at all material times.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in the respective Acts during the period from 1st April, 2016 to 17th day of July, 2016 during which the declared provisions contained in the said Bill was in force, anything done or any action taken by virtue of the said provisions of the said Bill shall be deemed to have been validly done or taken under the respective Acts and no action shall lie against any dealer or authority on the ground of short levy or refund of excess tax or duty and tax or duty collected, if any, by a dealer or an authority, as the case may be, shall be paid over to the Government.
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Kerala Value Added Tax Act, 2003 (30 of 2004) and the Kerala Stamp Act, 1959 (17 of 1959) any tax collected or paid at higher rate by virtue of the provisions of the Kerala Finance Bill, 2016 (Bill No. 16 of the XIV Kerala Legislative Assembly) in respect of the period with effect on and from the 18th day of July, 2016 to the date of publication of this Act, shall be deemed to have been validly done and any tax collected or paid by a dealer or authority at such higher rates shall be deemed to have been validly collected or paid and the tax so collected shall be paid over to the Government and shall not be refunded.