(1) Every person registered under the Act, every dealer liable to get himself registered under the Act and every other dealer who is so required by an assessing authority, shall keep and maintain the following books of accounts disclosing true and complete accounts of his daily transactions in Malayalam or in English together with the vouchers and bills:-

(i) a daily cash book, that is to say, a record of all cash receipts and payments, kept and maintained from day to day indicating the cash balance in hand at the end of each day;

(ii) a journal, if the accounts are maintained according to mercantile system of accounting;

(iii) a ledger;

(iv) a purchase register showing date wise details of the person from whom goods are purchased indicating the registration number, if the purchase is from a registered dealer, details of goods, quantity and value of goods purchased, freight, delivery charges or cost of installation which are separately charged, other charges, if any, paid, and input tax for such purchases.

(v) a sales register showing date wise details of sales effected to registered dealers indicating the registration number of the purchasing dealer, quantity and value of each class of goods sold, freight, delivery charges or cost of installation separately charged, other charges, if any, received and output tax for such sales.

(vi) a stock register showing date wise details of in-out- balance position of goods indicating opening stock, goods purchased, goods received otherwise than by way of purchase, goods received on stock transfer, goods sold or used for manufacturing, goods disposed of otherwise than by way of sale or manufacturing, consignment or stock transfer, goods bought or sold in the course of inter state trade or commerce or in the course of export out of or import into the territory of India, and the closing stock. Where goods are disposed of in different ways, local sales, interstate sale, export, use in manufacture etc, the quantitative details of goods disposed of under each category shall be separately furnished in the register.

(vii) a dealer who is a whole saler-cum-retailer, shall maintain a day-to-day stock register as specified under clause (vi) only in respect of the wholesale transactions which shall show clearly the quantitative details of goods taken from the wholesale section to the retail section each day. In respect of the retail section the dealer shall maintain a closing stock inventory for the year.;

(viii)a dealer who is having only retail business and is paying tax under sub-section (5) of section 6 need maintain only the records mentioned in clause (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv) and a closing stock inventory for the year.

(ix) where any dealer sends any goods to any place within the state or outside the state for processing repairs, maintenance, testing or any other similar purposes and return, he shall maintain separate accounts showing the particulars of the goods, documents accompanying the consignment, name and address of the person to whom sent, purpose for which the goods are sent, the date on which the goods are received back, the quantity and nature of goods received back and document accompanying the consignment.;

(x) where a dealer is undertaking job works in relation to any goods received from any other person, he shall keep accounts showing the particulars of the goods received from such other person nature of job works undertaken, the quantity and nature of the goods returned and the date of return.

(2) Every dealer shall keep separate purchase and sales accounts for different goods liable to tax at different rates of tax. Separate accounts shall be kept for the purchases in respect of which the dealer is eligible to claim input tax credit showing the purchase price and the tax paid on such purchase separately. Purchase price shall not include the tax collection on such purchase.

(3) Every registered dealer, every dealer liable to get himself registered under the Act and every other dealer who is required so to do by the assessing authority shall keep the books of accounts, in the case of a registered dealer, at the place or places of business entered in the certificate of registration and in the case of others at the place where the dealer carries on his business. Every purchase and every sale shall be brought to account as soon as the purchase or sale, as the case may be, is effected. Every contractor, including a contractor who has opted for payments of tax at compounded rate, shall keep the books of accounts relating to each contract at the work site.

(4) Every dealer shall keep separate accounts in respect of sales or purchases in the course of export or import and in respect of inter-State sales or purchases.

(5) Every commission agent, broker, del credere agent, auctioneer or any other mercantile agent shall maintain accounts showing:-

(a) particulars of authorization received by him to purchase or sell goods on behalf of each principal separately and the date on which a copy of such authorization in each case was sent to the assessing authority.

(b) particulars of goods purchased, or of goods received for sale on behalf of each principal each day;

(c) details of purchases or sales effected on behalf of each principal each day,

(d) details of account furnished to each principal each day;

(e) the tax paid on purchases or on sales effected on behalf of each principal and the Chelan No. and date of remittance of the tax into Treasury.

(6) Every dealer who sells goods to a purchasing agent shall keep particulars of the name and address of the purchasing principal on whose behalf the agent buys.

(7) Every purchasing agent shall keep particulars of the names and addresses of dealers or persons from whom he purchases the goods and the selling agent shall keep particulars of the names and addresses of the dealers or persons to whom he sells the goods.

(8) Every wholesale dealer, importer and manufacturer shall maintain day-to-day stock accounts of each class of goods dealt in by him. The stock account shall contain particulars of purchases or receipts, sales or deliveries and balance stock.

(9) Every dealer liable to pay tax under the Act, other than a dealer paying presumptive tax under sub-section (5) of S.6 or compounded tax under section 8, shall maintain , shall maintain a register showing month wise details of input tax, output tax, purchase tax, Central Sales Tax, Entry Tax, reverse tax, tax due, tax paid and input tax, if any, carried forward to the subsequent return period together with credit and debit notes issued.

(10) Every dealer shall compulsorily issue a bill or an invoice or cash memorandum in respect of every sale. Where the sale is subject to approval by the purchaser, such dealer shall issue bill or invoice or cash memorandum specifying therein that the sale is subject to approval within a stated period of time. Every such bill, invoice or cash memorandum of a dealer shall, in the case of-

(i) a manufacturer, and a trader who effects sale to a person other than an end customer be in Form No. 8;

(ii) a trader effecting sale to an end customer be in Form No. 8B;

(iii) every works contractor paying tax under clause (f) of sub section (1) of section 6 be in Form No.8 C;

(iv) every works contractor paying tax under clause (a) of section 8 be in Form No.8 CA;

(v) every dealer paying presumptive tax under sub section (5) of section 6 issue be in Form No. 8 D;

(vi) every dealer liable to tax under sub-section (2) of section 6 a purchase invoice in Form No. 8 E;

(vii) every dealer in medicines or drugs paying tax under clause (e) of section 8 be in Form No. 8 H;

(viii) every dealer in jewellery be in Form No. 8 J.

Where any central legislation requires any dealer to issue bills with any specific information, such dealer may issue bills as required by such legislation incorporating the details prescribed by the relevant forms under this rule. Where a dealer who is paying tax under sub-section (1) of section 6 has opted for paying tax under section 8 for a part of his transactions he shall issue separate invoice for sales of goods covered by the said sub-section and also for goods in respect of which he is eligible for payment of tax under section8. Where any particular column or details prescribed in any of the forms is not applicable to any dealer, such dealer will be at liberty to omit those columns or details from the bill, invoice or cash memorandum maintained by him, provided that where the column in respect of discount is omitted, the dealer shall not claim any deduction in respect of discount thereafter. Every dealer may also re-arrange the columns in the form prescribed, provided the bill, invoice or cash memorandum, as the case may be, contains the particulars prescribed by these rules.

(11) Every such bill or invoice or cash memorandum, shall be prepared in duplicate unless a different procedure is prescribed by the Central Excise Law or any other Central legislation, as applicable to such dealer, and shall be serially machine numbered. Where the goods sold are transported in a vehicle or vessel or where the goods are transported through any check post, such bills, invoice or cash memorandum shall be issued in quadruplicate. Where the bill is issued in duplicate original shall be issued to the purchaser in the case of sale bill,and to the seller in the case of purchase bill, and the other copy shall be retained by the dealer. In the case of quadruplicate bills, the duplicate shall be used as transport copy, triplicate shall be filed at the check post, in the case of transport of goods across the check post and the quadruplicate shall be retained by the seller. The serial numbers assigned to the bills, invoice or cash memoranda shall run consecutively for the whole year. The dealers may use the same or different series of bills, invoice or cash memoranda for goods subject to different rates of tax, provided that the dealer shall use a separate series for the bills issued for sales under a permit under sub-section (1) of section 19. The dealer shall intimate the series and the opening numbers of bills or invoices or cash memoranda intended to be used by him in a year to the assessing authority during the month of April and the number of the first and last bills or invoices or cash memoranda issued during the month, quarter or year, under different series shall be noted in the monthly, quarterly or annual return, as the case may be, filed by the dealer. If a new series of bill, invoice or cash memoranda is started after having furnished the details to the assessing authority in April, the dealer shall intimate the details thereof within fifteen days from the date on which such new series is started.

(11A). Where different series of bills, invoices or cash memoranda are maintained it shall be in 'Alpha numerals' only and the alphabets shall precede the numerals. The maximum alphabets and numerals that can be used in a series shall be limited to 'three' and 'seven' respectively. The invoice number shall not contain any special characters like 'coma, star, slash, full stop, hyphen or any symbols' and shall be written continuously without blank spaces.

(12) Every manufacturer of goods shall, in addition to the daily stock register in respect of raw materials and finished goods prescribed under sub-rule (8), maintain a monthly manufacturing account in Form No. 14. Separate account shall be maintained for goods of different grades or quality.

(13) Every manufacturer in jewellery of gold, silver and platinum group of metals, shall maintain a manufacturing account in Form No. 14A

(14) Every dealer who is required to maintain stock accounts shall maintain subsidiary accounts for each godown if there is more than one godown for keeping his stock. However no separate stock register will be required if such godown is situated in the same premises where the principal place of business is also situated.

(15) Where the accounts or records are maintained by means of computer or any other electronic device, the dealer shall intimate the assessing authority in advance. Such dealer shall also keep a printout of the monthly summary of the purchases, sales, the stock position as on the last day of the month, in respect of each class of goods.

(16) Every wholesale dealer while delivering goods to retail dealer in pursuance of sale where no sale bill is issued or every person who consigns goods by any vehicle or vessel or any other means in pursuance of a sale, where a sale bill is not issued, or consigns goods through the said means from one godown to another or from one of his shops to another for the purpose of storage or sale, shall issue a delivery note in Form No. 15 Delivery Note shall also be used for the transport of such goods as may be notified by Government from time to time even where such goods are accompanied by sale bill, invoice or cash memorandum, as the case may be. Where goods are transported from a dealer's business place to any parcel agency or transporting agency for onward transport in a different vehicle or vessel, the time of commencement of the journey from the business place of the dealer and the particulars of the vehicle vessel and the driver at that time shall be noted in the delivery note and the fact that the goods are being sent through a parcel agency or transporting agency shall be noted in column 8, along with the name of such agency. The parcel agency or transport agency shall note the number and date of the delivery note in the R.R/L.R or similar documents. Where goods are transported using a delivery note to any dealer for sale and the consignee rejects the goods, the goods may be re-transported back to the consignor using the same delivery note with an endorsement thereon to that effect under the name and seal of the consignee who rejects the goods. In such cases the duplicate copy of the delivery note used for the transport shall be filed along with the return. Where goods are sent to a dealer under instruction from another dealer, the name of the former shall be shown in the delivery note as the consignee on account of such another dealer. Where a dealer sends any goods to any place within the state or outside the state for processing, repairs, maintenance, testing or any other similar purposes and return, the consignment shall be accompanied by delivery note in Form No. 15. Where the goods are returned after processing, the goods shall be accompanied by the invoice or bill of the processor and also the delivery note of the dealer. A blank book of Delivery Note of Form No. 15 shall be obtained from the assessing authority, on payment of a fee at the rate of seventy five rupees per book of fifty forms. The entries in the delivery note in Form No.15 and its copies shall be made with double sided carbon paper and the time of commencement of journey in the delivery note shall be indicated in the 24 hour(Railway time) format only.

(17) Every such delivery note shall be prepared in triplicate, the duplicate and triplicate being carbon copies of the original. Where the details of the goods covered by the delivery note cannot be incorporated in the column provided there for, a separate statement (which shall be prepared in triplicate as in the case of delivery note) incorporating such details may be attached to the delivery note. Where a dealer uses such separate statement it shall be assigned separate serial numbers which shall run consecutively for the whole year. The opening number shall be intimated to the assessing authority in advance and the copies of the statements used during a month shall be submitted in the same manner as in the case of delivery note. The number of the statement used along with a delivery note shall be noted in the column of the delivery note provided for noting the details of goods. The delivery notes shall be serially machine numbered, shall be kept in book form and shall be duly signed and dated by the consigning dealer or his manager or authorized agent. The original of it shall be furnished to the concerned Assessing Authority along with the annual return in Form No. 10 and the duplicate shall be retained by the purchasing dealer or the person to whom the goods are delivered for transporting and the triplicate shall be retained by the consigning dealer.

(18) Every person, other than a registered dealer, who consigns goods by any vehicle or vessel, where the transport is not in pursuance of a sale, shall issue a certificate of ownership in Form No. 16.

(18A). Where a dealer is transporting goods in small quantities from one of his shops or godown to another shop or godown in any vehicle other than a heavy vehicle within a distance of less than 25 K.M within the state and transport is not in pursuance of any sale, the dealer may, instead of using a delivery note in Form No. 15, use a delivery chalan which shall be serially machine numbered and shall contain the name, address, Tax Pays Identification Number (TIN) or registration number of the dealer, the particulars of the commodity under transport, its quantity and value, place from which goods are consigned and place to which they are consigned and the vehicle number and name of the driver with his driving licence number. It shall be prepared in triplicate in the same manner as delivery note in form No. 15 and the copies shall be used in the same manner as a delivery note in form No. 15. Such delivery chalan shall not be used where the goods are transported across a boarder check post. A dealer intending to use the delivery chalan shall intimate the assessing authority in advance the serial numbers which are proposed to be assigned to the delivery chalan and shall file photocopies of such delivery chalan along with the return filed under rule 22.

(19) Where a dealer allows trade discount in terms of quantity, he shall show it separately in the tax invoice or sale bill, as the case may be, issued by him. The sale value of the goods shown in the tax invoice or sale bill shall be deemed to include the sale value of the quantity allowed as discount. The purchasing dealer who receives such discount shall show it in his account as purchase and pay tax, as applicable, on the sales of such goods.

(20) Accounts and other records maintained by a dealer shall be preserved by him for a period of five years from the expiry of the year to which the assessment relates or two year from the date of disposal of the appeal or revision arising out of such assessment or from the date of completion of any other proceeding under the Act connected with such assessment or appeal or revision, whichever is later, and shall be kept at the place of business mentioned in the certificate of registration. Every dealer who maintains accounts by electronic means shall intimate the concerned assessing authority in advance along with the password. Such dealer shall also retain them in the electronically readable format for the retention period specified in this sub-rule.

(20A)(a) The dealers maintaining electronic billing and accounting systems shall,

(i) be liable to deploy only software that truthfully reflect their tax liability under the Act, 2003.

(ii) intimate their assessing officer of the deployment of electronic billing and accounting systems and the fact of such deployment shall be indicated in the Kerala Value Added Tax Information System in the Registration Module. Such dealers shall inform their assessing officer the names and addresses of their software developers and vendors. This shall be done when deploying newly developed software and for its subsequent customization / modification, by whatever name called.

(iii) maintain up-to-date documentation of the software and system deployed, with full disclosure of all methods of capturing and its retrieval data in their software and its operational flow, including all menus, in their principal place of business in the State; the same shall be produced to the officials of the Commercial Taxes Department on demand.

(iv) ensure that the software deployed should have daily, weekly and monthly auto-backup facility and dealers shall be liable to submit these back-ups on demand to the Department.

(v) A true copy of all data captured in business establishments in the State shall be maintained in the business premises where it is captured regardless of where the server is hosted, and access to the same shall be made available to inspecting officers from the Department. If at any time it is found that data stored by or for a dealer on an external device differs from that available in the approved system / database, then the accounts of the dealer are liable to be rejected and assessments done as per law.

(b) Electronic billing machines used by dealers in the State shall not have any option for re-starting numbering of the bills issued. Such machines if found deployed shall be liable to be seized for further investigation by the Department.

(c) Unregistered dealers using electronic methods of billing and keeping accounts shall also be liable to follow the rules regarding these matters in the Act.

(d) Software developers and vendors shall be liable to sell and deploy to dealers under the Act, only software compatible with the provisions of the Act and Rules.

(e)The Commissioner may from time to time cause verification of the software and systems deployed by dealers by any agency of his choice to ascertain the extent of compliance.

(21) In the case of dealers in ornaments or wares or articles of gold, silver or platinum group metals who had not exercised option under clause (f) of section 8, the Commissioner may, if found necessary, for reasons recorded in writing post officers not below the rank of an assessing authority in the business premises of such dealers to watch compliance of section 40 and on such posting the dealer shall provide such facilities to the officers for the discharge of their duties.

(22) When an officer is posted in the business premises of a dealer in accordance with sub rule (21), the officer shall ensure that the dealer is complying with the provisions of the Act and shall furnish a daily report to the Deputy Commissioners concerned.