In exercise of powers vested in her under section 15 of the Himachal Pradesh Tax on Entry of Goods into Local Area Act, 2010 (Act No. 9 of 2010), read with section 63 of the Himachal Pradesh Value Added Tax Act, 2005, the Governor of Himachal Pradesh is pleased to make the following rules for carrying out the purposes of the Act, Namely:-
" Chapter – I
PRELIMINARY
1. Short title and commencement -
(1) These rules may be called the Himachal Pradesh Tax on Entry of Goods into Local Areas Rules, 2012.
(2) They shall come into force with immediate effect.
2. Definitions
(1) In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires,-
(a) "Act" means the Himachal Pradesh Tax on Entry of Goods into Local Area Act, 2010;
(b) "Assessing Authority" means any person appointed by the State Government under subsection (2) of section 3 of Himachal Pradesh Value Added Tax Act, 2005, read with section 12 of the Act, shall be the Assessing Authority under the Act in respect of the dealers falling in his/her jurisdiction;
(c) "Form" means a form appended to these rules;
(d) "Government" means the Government of Himachal Pradesh;
(e) "Government Treasury" means a Government treasury in Himachal Pradesh and includes a sub-treasury;
(f) "month" means a Gregorian calendar month;
(g) "section" means a section of the Act; and
(h) "schedule" means a schedule appended to the Act.
(2) Words or expressions used but not defined in these rules, shall have the same meanings, respectively, as assigned to them in the Himachal Pradesh Value Added Tax Act, 2005 or the rules framed thereunder as the case may be.
CHAPTER – II
REGISTRATION
3. Registration of Dealer -
Every dealer who is liable to pay entry tax under section 3, shall be deemed to have been registered under the Act, if such dealer is registered under the Himachal Pradesh Value Added Tax Act, 2005. The procedure specified for registration under rules 3, 4 and 5 of the Himachal Pradesh Value Added Tax Rules, 2005 shall apply mutatis-mutandis to these rules.
CHAPTER – III
PAYMENTS OF TAX AND RETURNS
4. Payments of tax and other dues
(1) The payment of tax under section 3 and 4 of the Act shall be made,-
(a) by every registered dealer liable to pay tax while furnishing monthly return to the authority concerned;
(b) by every un-registered dealer/non-dealer to the authority concerned at the point of entry into local area/multi-purpose barrier or circle/district authority of location through demand draft / treasury receipt / cash payment immediately or within 10 days from the date of entry of goods into local area on furnishing sufficient security in the shape of Bank Guarantee or equivalent as the case may be on receipt of Declaration-cum-Tax Payment notice in form ET-I.
(2) Any other amount due under the Act shall be recovered in accordance with rules 11, 12 and 13 of these rules.
5. Mode of payment of tax –
(1) Any amount payable by a registered dealer or unregistered dealer in respect of entry tax, interest, penalty or any other liability or amount due under the Act or these rules shall be paid into appropriate Government Treasury. No payment of any such amount in cash except from non-dealer or unregistered dealer, shall be accepted at the office of Assistant Excise & Taxation Commissioner or Excise & Taxation Officer Incharge of the district or the office of Assessing Authority of the circle or multipurpose barrier.
(2) All payments under the Act shall be made by a challan in form VAT-II, obtainable free of charge from the district/circle office of the department or for making e-payment, the challan in form VAT-II can be downloaded or printed from the website of Excise & Taxation Department, Himachal Pradesh.
(3) Challan shall be filled up in quadruplicate. One copy of challan shall be retained by the treasury and second copy shall be sent by treasury officer to Assistant Excise & Taxation Commissioner or Excise & Taxation Officer of the districts or returned to the person making payment officer incharge of circle and triplicate and quadruplicate copies shall be duly signed as proof of payment. The triplicate copy of the challan shall be furnished by the person making the payment to the authority concerned alongwith return:
Provided that if the payments are made on line, the dealer shall download the challan in Form-VAT-II from the website of Excise and Taxation Department.
6. Mode of filing of returns –
(1) Every registered dealer shall furnish monthly return within 30 days from the expiry of such month in form VAT-XV under Himachal Pradesh Value Added Tax Rules, 2005. The procedure specified under rules, 40, 41, 42, 43 and 44 of the aforesaid rules, shall apply mutatis-mutandis to these rules.
(2) The return in form VAT- XV shall be sent to the appropriate Assessing Authority together with the treasury or bank receipt as proof of payment of the tax due and acknowledgement for receipt of return shall be issued after affixing signature and official stamp indicating date of receipt.
(3) Every registered dealer shall append to his return the list of purchases of goods as per Schedule-II of the Act.
(4) Every Assessing Authority shall maintain demand and collection register in form VATXVII showing the payment of tax, penalty, interest and other amount by the dealer in his jurisdiction.
(5) (i) The appropriate Assessing Authority shall scrutinize every return of a dealer and if any mistake is detected in the return upon such scrutiny and the person is found to have paid less tax then that payable as per such return, such authority shall serve a notice upon the dealer concerned directing him to pay the amount of tax less paid along with interest payable under section 19 of the Himachal Pradesh Value Added Tax Act, 2005 and to produce the treasury receipts before him within the time specified in the said notice:
Provided, that if the dealer is found to have paid tax or interest in excess of the amount payable according to such return, the said authority shall inform the same to the dealer by sending an intimation within one month of completion of such scrutiny.
(ii) if upon receipt of notice referred to in clause (i), the dealer complies with the direction made in such notice and furnishes proof of such compliance including a copy of treasury receipt, the Assessing Authority shall make a record of the same and close the scrutiny. If the dealer does not comply with such directions or expresses his disagreement in writing, adducing reasons for such disagreement with the directions made in such notice, the Assessing Authority, unless, he accepts such reasons as correct and justified, shall, refer the matter to Assistant Excise & Taxation Commissioner or officer incharge of the district within a fortnight, recommending for initiation of audit proceedings in the case, in respect of such dealer.
CHAPTER – IV
ACCOUNTS.
7. Maintenance of accounts by a dealer -
(1) Every registered dealer and every person liable to get himself registered under the Act shall keep and maintain a true and correct account of goods purchased, manufactured, processed and sold by him or goods held by him in stock.
(2) The procedure specified under rules 51, 52, 53, 54, 55 and 56 of Himachal Pradesh Value Added Tax Rules, 2005, shall apply mutatis-mutandis to these rules.
(3) Every such dealer or person shall keep the current books of accounts at the place of business entered in the registration certificate.
(4) Every dealer or manufacturer shall maintain day to day stock account in respect of each of the goods and each variety of the same goods dealt with by him. The stock account shall contain particulars of the purchases or stock receipts, sale or stock transfers and balance of stock.
CHAPTER - V
DEEMED ASSESSMENT, ASSESSMENT, RE-ASSESSMENT AND RECTIFICATION OF MISTAKES.
8. Procedure for deemed assessment -
(1) The returns furnished by a dealer under sub-rule (1) of rule 6 read with section 16 of The Himachal Pradesh Value Added Tax Act, 2005 shall be duly acknowledged.
(2) Where the returns relating to a financial year have been filed and are complete in material particulars, the dealer shall be deemed to have been assessed for that year:
Provided, that no return shall be deemed to be correct and complete if, it is either not accompanied by the specified list, documents, certificates or declarations, or any of these are incorrect or the particulars are not signed or improperly signed and as such the return shall also be treated to be incorrect and incomplete.
(3) Except for the cases selected for scrutiny, all other cases shall be deemed to have been assessed to tax and in such cases acknowledgement of return shall be deemed to be the copy of assessment order.
9. Selection of cases for scrutiny and issue of notice –
The procedure specified under rule 66 and 67 of the Himachal Pradesh Value Added Tax Rules, 2005, shall apply mutatis-mutandis to these rules.
10. Re-assessment of tax and rectification of mistakes –
The procedure specified under rule 72 of the Himachal Pradesh Value Added Tax Rules, 2005, shall apply mutatis-mutandis to these rules.
CHAPTER - VI
PROCEDURE FOR RECOVERY OF TAX, INTEREST AND PENALTY
11. General mode of recovery –
Where any tax or sum payable by a dealer or a person under this Act, is not paid within specified time, the recovery shall be made from the securities so furnished in this regard.
12. Tax, Interest and Penalty recoverable as arrear of land revenue –
The amount of any tax and penalty imposed or interest payable which remains unpaid after due date, shall be recovered as arrears of land revenue.
13. Special mode of recovery -
Notwithstanding anything contained in these rules, the Commissioner or any officer not below Excise & Taxation Officer, appointed under section 3 of the Himachal Pradesh Value Added Tax Act, 2005, may at any time or from time to time by issue of notice shall be empowered to recover such tax, penalty and interest by attachment and sale of the movable or immovable property of such dealer or person as the case may be.
CHAPTER - VII
PROCEDURE FOR DETERMINITION AND SANCTION OF REFUND.
14. Application for refund -
The application for refund of any amount admissible under the Act, shall be made to appropriate Assessing Authority containing the grounds on which the refund is claimed. The procedure specified under rule 74 of Himachal Pradesh Value Added Tax Rules, 2005, shall apply mutatis-mutandis to these rules.
15. Determination of amount of refund, sanction and adjustment of claim –
The procedure specified under rule 75 and 76 of the Himachal Pradesh Value Added Tax Rules, 2005, shall apply mutatis-mutandis to these rules.
CHAPTER - VIII
APPEAL AND REVISIONS
16. Submission of application for appeal or revision –
The procedure specified under rule 77, 78, 79, 80, 81 and 82 of the Himachal Pradesh Value Added Tax Rules, 2005, shall apply mutatis-mutandis to these rules.
CHAPTER - IX
MISCELLANEOUS
17. Superintendence and control of administration –
The procedure specified under rule 87 of the Himachal Pradesh Value Added Tax Rules, 2005, shall apply mutatis-mutandis to these rules.
18. Information regarding entering into partnership or dissolution of partnership -
(1) If a dealer entered into partnership with regard to his business, he shall report the fact to the Assessing Authority concerned within 30 days of his entering into such partnership. The dealer and the partner shall be jointly and severally responsible for the payment of tax, interest and penalty payable under the Act.
(2) If the partnership is dissolved, every person who was a partner shall send intimation of the dissolution to the Assessing Authority concerned within 30 days of such dissolution.
19. Information regarding discontinuance of business or change of place of business -
If, at any time, a dealer:-
(i) discontinues or sells or otherwise disposes of the whole or part of any business carried by him; or
(ii) changes his place of business or any of his places of business; or
(iii) opens a new place of business; or
(iv) changes the name of business carried by him,
or in case the dealer is dead, his legal representative; shall intimate the fact to the Assessing Authority concerned within 30 days.
20. Delegation of Routine Duties -
The procedure specified under rule 88 of the Himachal Pradesh Value Added Tax Rules, 2005, shall apply mutatis-mutandis to these rules.
"FORM"
EXCISE & TAXATION DEPARTMENT, HIMACHAL PRADESH.
FORM ET-I
{see rule 4(b)}
Declaration-cum-tax Payment Notice
(For non-dealers only)
7. Details of Goods (Give details overleaf in case of Multiple Bills)
Whereas, the goods of above description declared at the barrier ………………… on dated …………… are allowed to enter inside the local area or area of destination subject to the condition that the consignee /owner / custodian of the aforesaid goods will deposit full amount of Entry Tax payable for Rs. ........................................ (Rupees......................................................................................................) in Government Treasury/Sub-treasury through SBI / PNB / SBOP to be credited in sub-head '09' (Entry Tax), minor head '800' under head of account '0040' tax on sales, trade etc. within 10 days from the date of such declarations. The copies of TR certifying deposit of tax should be submitted to the office of AETC of the district concerned and to incharge of the barrier from where the goods have entered into the local area / state.
In case the payment of Entry Tax is not made as per directions, it will be presumed that the goods as such have been entered into the local area/state without valid declaration and penalty as warranted under section 34(7) of Himachal Pradesh Value Added Tax Act, 2005 shall be levied in addition to the amount of entry tax due and the recovery of tax and penalty will be enforced through sale of movable / immovable property after affording due opportunity to be heard.
Copy for information and necessary action to:-
1. AETC of …………… district
…………………………………………………………………
2. ETO/AETO I/c of circle …………… District
……………………………………………………………
I/C MP Barrier ………………
District……………………(HP)
By order,
Pr. Secretary (Excise & Taxation) to the
Government of Himachal Pradesh