(1) Tax payable under the Act shall be paid in the manner hereinafter provided at such intervals as may be prescribed.

(2) The State Government may, in public interest and subject to such conditions as it may deem fit, accept from any class of dealers in lieu of the amount of tax payable under this Act for any period, by way of composition, a lumpsum to be determined and to be paid at such intervals and in such manner as may be prescribed, or the lumpsum amount may be calculated at a fixed rate on the taxable turnover, as may be prescribed in respect of such class of dealers and for this purpose a simplified system of registration, maintenance of accounts, filing of returns may also be prescribed which shall remain in force during the period of such composition.

(3) Such dealers as may be required so to do by the Assessing Authority by notice served in the prescribed manner and every registered dealer shall furnish such returns manually or electronically by such dates and to such Authority as may be prescribed.

(3a) The State Government may, by notification, exempt any class of dealer from filing of return, subject to such restrictions and conditions, such limit of turnover and for such period, as may be prescribed, and tax, if any, deducted at source, shall be deemed final payment of tax and such dealer shall not be liable to assessment for that period.

(4) Before a registered dealer furnishes the return required by sub-section (3), he shall, in the prescribed manner, pay manually or electronically into a Government Treasury or the Scheduled Bank which is a treasury bank, or at the office of the Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner or Excise and Taxation Officer-in-charge of the District, the full amount of tax due from him under the Act according to such returns and shall furnish along with the returns a receipt from such treasury, bank or office of the Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner or Excise and Taxation Officer-in-charge of the District showing the payment of such amount:

Provided that no payment of such amount shall be accepted at the office of the Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner or Excise and Taxation Officer-in-Charge of the District save through a crossed cheque or bank draft payable at a local branch of a Scheduled Bank in favour of the Assessing Authority:

Provided further that when a dealer makes payment through a Scheduled Bank other than the treasury bank, he shall obtain from such bank a certificate, as may be prescribed, to the effect that the bank has remitted the amount of tax to the treasury bank on the dealer's directions and on production of such certificate to the Assessing Authority the dealer shall be deemed to have paid the tax on the date following the date on which such certificate is issued by such bank:

Provided further that in case of payment through a Scheduled Bank which is located at a station other than that of the treasury bank, the dealer shall need to procure the prescribed certificate from the concerned bank, as mentioned under the preceding proviso, at least three days before the expiry of the due date prescribed under sub-section (2) for filing the return and only in that case the dealer shall be deemed to have made the payment by due date:

Provided further that where the payment is made through a crossed cheque, such crossed cheque must be delivered in the office of the Assessing Authority concerned, not less than ten clear days before the expiry of the due date prescribed under sub-section (3) for filing the return, and the dealer shall be deemed to have made the payment on the date on which such crossed cheque, after its presentation in the bank, is actually credited into the Government account and necessary receipt is issued by the bank in favour of the dealer:

Provided further that where the payment is made through a crossed cheque and the cheque is dishonoured, shall be deemed to have not made the payment and shall be liable to any action which may be taken for not making payment under this Act or the rules framed thereunder.

Explanation.- For the purposes of this sub-section "Scheduled Bank" means a bank included in the Second Schedule to the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 (2 of 1934.).

(5) If any dealer discovers any omission or other error in any return furnished by him, he may-

(i) in the case of monthly and quarterly return, furnish a revised return before the date prescribed for filing of next return, and

(ii) in the case of annual reurn, furnish a revised return within a period of sixty days from the last date prescribed for filing of annual return, and if the revised return shows a greater amount of tax to be due against the tax shown in the original return, it shall be accompanied with a receipt showing payment of extra amount in accordance with sub-section(4).

(6) If a dealer fails without sufficient cause to furnish the return by the prescribed date as required under sub-section (3), the dealer shall be liable to pay, by way of penalty, a sum equal to Rs. 200/- per day till the default continues, but such penalty shall not exceed Rs. 25,000/-:

Provided that where the dealer is filing monthly returns, a sum equal to Rs.1000/- per day shall be charged as penalty till the default continues, but such penalty shall not exceed Rs. 50,000/-:

Provided further that where a dealer has closed down his business or has left the business without getting his Registration Certificate cancelled, the Assessing Authority shall suspend his Registration Certificate immediately, and thereafter no further incremental penalty as applicable shall be imposed.

(6-A) If a dealer fails without sufficient cause to furnish annual return by the prescribed date, he shall be liable to pay, by way of penalty, a sum of Rs. 5000/-.

(7) If a dealer fails without sufficient cause to comply with the requirements of the provisions of sub-section (4), the Commissioner or any person appointed to assist him under sub-section (1) of section 3 may, after giving such dealer a reasonable opportunity of being heard, direct him to pay by way of penalty, a sum-

(i) equal to ten percentum, for the delay upto fifteen days,

(ii) equal to twenty five percentum, for the delay exceeding fifteen days but not exceeding thirty days, and

(iii) equal to fifty percentum, for the delay exceeding thirty days, of the amount of tax to which he is assessed or is liable to be assessed under section 21, in addition to the amount of tax to which he is assessed or is liable to be assessed.

(8) If a dealer has maintained false or incorrect accounts with a view to suppressing his sales, purchases or stocks of goods, or has concealed any particulars of his sales or purchases or has furnished to, or produced before, any Authority under this Act or the rules made thereunder any account, return or information which is false or incorrect in any material particular, the Commissioner or any person appointed to assist him under sub-section (1) of section 3 may, after affording such dealer a reasonable opportunity of being heard, direct him to pay by way of penalty in addition to the tax to which he is assessed or is liable to be assessed, an amount upto twice the amount of tax but which shall not be less than one hundred percentum of such tax amount to which he is assessed or is liable to be assessed.