THE HIMACHAL PRADESH VALUE ADDED TAX ACT, 2005. Notifications
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Body

Act No. 14 of 2009

THE HIMACHAL PRADESH VALUE ADDED TAX (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2009

(As Assented to by the Governor on 17th September, 2009)

ACT

further to amend the Himachal Pradesh Value Added Tax Act, 2005 (Act No. 12 of2005).

Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of Himachal Pradesh in the Sixtieth Year of the Republic of India as follows: -

1. Short title.-

This Act may be called the Himachal Pradesh Value Added Tax (Amendment) Act, 2009.

2. Amendment of section 7.-

In section 7 of the Himachal Pradesh Value Added Tax Act, 2005 (12 of 2005) (hereinafter referred to as the 'principal Act'), for second proviso, the following proviso shall be substituted, namely:-

"Provided further that no registered dealer, except a brick-kiln owner, who imports goods for sale or use in manufacturing or processing any goods for sale, shall be entitled to make payment of presumptive tax under this section.".

3. Amendment of section 10.-

In section 10 of the principal Act, for the words "thirty days", the words "ten days" shall be substituted.

4. Amendment of section 11.-

In section 11 of the principal Act-

(a) in sub-section (4), in clause (b), after the word "otherwise", the word "than" shall be inserted.;

(b) in sub-section (5), the existing proviso shall be omitted.; and

"(16) If a dealer falsely claims input-tax credit in his return or avails input tax credit to which he is not entitled or claims in his return input tax credit in respect of the amount of tax which has not been or was not actually paid, the Commissioner or the Assessing Authority shall direct such dealer to pay, by way of penalty, in addition to the tax and interest payable by him, a sum equal to twice the amount of such claim or credit.".

5. Amendment of section 14.-

In section 14 of the principal Act, after sub-section (6), the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely:-

" (7) If any person knowingly uses a false registration number or uses a registration number of another person with a view to evade tax under this Act, the Commissioner or any person appointed to assist him under sub-section (1) of section 3 may, after affording such person or the 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 equal to the amount of tax evaded or attempted to be evaded.".

6. Amendment of section 15.-

In section 15 of the principal Act, after sub-section (1), the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:-

"Provided that the security shall not be less than ten thousand rupees but not exceeding the estimated tax liability for one year.".

7. Amendment of section 16.-

In section 16 of the principal Act-

(a) after sub-section (6), the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely:-

"(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/-.";

(b) for sub-section (7), the following sub-section shall be substituted, namely:-

" (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."; and

(c) in sub-section (8), for the words and signs "which shall not be less than twenty-five percentum, but which shall not exceed one and a half times of the amount of tax to which he is assessed", the words "equal to twice the amount of tax to which he is assessed or is liable to be assessed" shall be substituted.

8. Amendment of section 17.-

In section 17 of the principal Act, in sub-section (4), for the words, brackets and figure "not exceeding twice the amount of tax deductible under sub-section (1)", the words, signs, brackets and figure "equal to the amount of tax deductible under sub-section (1)," shall be substituted.

9. Amendment of section 19.-

In section 19 of the principal Act, in sub-section (2), for the words "as the case any be", the words "as the case may be" shall be substituted.

10. Amendment of section 20.-

In section 20 of the principal Act, in sub-section (3), for the words "not exceeding", the word "of" shall be substituted.

11. Amendment of section 21.-

In section 21 of the principal Act-

(a) in sub-section (1), in the Explanation, in part (i), for the word "October", the word "December" shall be substituted.;

(b) in sub-section (7), for the words and signs "may direct that the dealer shall pay by way of penalty, in addition to the amount so assessed, a sum which shall not be less than fifteen percentum, but which shall not exceed one and a half times that amount", the words and signs "shall direct that the dealer shall pay by way of penalty, in addition to the amount of tax assessed, a sum equal to the amount of tax so assessed" shall be substituted.; and

12. Amendment of section 28.-

In section 28 of the principal Act, in sub-section (1), after the words and sign "prescribed manner,", the words and signs "after final determination of liability," shall be inserted.

13. Amendment of section 30.-

In section 30 of the principal Act-

(a) in sub-section (3), in clause (d), the words "the sale is" shall be omitted.; and

(b) in sub-section (16), for the words " which may extend to five thousand rupees", the words "of two thousand rupees" shall be substituted, and thereafter, the following subsection shall be inserted, namely:-

"(17) If any dealer issues a false invoice or receives and uses an invoice knowing to be false, the Commissioner or any person appointed to assist him under subsection (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 equal to five thousand rupees or double the amount of tax involved in such invoice, whichever is greater.".

14. Amendment of section 33.-

In section 33 of the principal Act, after sub-section (2), the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely:-

"(3) The dealer shall be bound to disclose true, correct and complete information of his business regarding ascertainment of commencement of liability to pay tax under this Act and if he fails without sufficient cause to furnish such information or furnishes false or incorrect information to the officer specified under sub-section (1), or conceals any particulars of sales or purchases, 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 equal to twenty five percentum of the amount of tax to which he is assessed or is liable to be assessed.".

15. Amendment of section 34.-

In section 34 of the principal Act-

(a) after sub-section (2), the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely:-

" (2-A) The owner or the person-in-charge of a goods vehicle or vessel entering the territorial limits of the State or leaving the territorial limits of the State, shall, for the purposes of this section, pass through only the nearest check post or barrier, failing which such owner or person-in-charge shall be liable to pay a penalty, equal to ten percentum of the value of goods or ten thousand rupees whichever is greater, in addition to any other penalty provided for in this section.";

(b) in sub-section (4)-

(i) in the first proviso, for the words "not exceeding twenty-five percentum of the value of the goods but which shall not be less than fifteen percentum", the words "equal to fifty percentum" shall be substituted.; and

(ii) after the second proviso, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:-

"Provided further that where the goods carried by such vehicle are, after their entry into the State, transported outside the State by any other vehicle or conveyance, the burden of proving that the goods have actually moved out of the State, shall be on the owner or person-in-charge of the vehicle or vessel.";

(c) in sub-section (6), for the words and signs "or executing a bond with or without surities for securing the amount of tax, in the prescribed form and manner, for an amount not exceeding twenty-five percentum of the value of the goods but which shall not be less than fifteen percentum of the value of the goods", the words and signs "in the form of cash or bank guarantee or bank draft, equal to twenty-five percentum of the value of the goods" shall be substituted.;

(d) in sub-section (7), for the words "not exceeding twenty five percentum of the value of the goods but which shall not be less than fifteen percentum of the value of the goods", the words "equal to twenty-five percentum of the value of the goods" shall be substituted.; and

(e) after sub-section (11), the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely:-

"(12) Where any person-in-charge of goods carriage or vessel fails to give information as required under sub-section (2) about the consignor or consignee of the goods, within such time as may be required by the officer-in-charge of the check post or barrier or any other officer as specified under sub-section (2), or transport the goods without documents or without genuine documents, the officer not below the rank of Excise and Taxation Officer, shall, after affording such person-in-charge a reasonable opportunity of being heard, direct him to pay by way of penalty, an amount equal to ten percentum of the value of such goods.".

Amendment of section 44.-

In section 44 of the principal Act-

(a) for sub-section (1), the following sub-sections shall be substituted, namely:-

"(1) The State Government shall by notification, establish an appellate tribunal consisting of a Chairperson for the proper discharge of the functions conferred on the tribunal by or under this Act.

(1A) The State Government may, by notification, appoint member(s) to the tribunal as it may deem fit for the discharge of functions conferred on the tribunal by or under this Act.";

(b) for sub-section (5), the following sub-section shall be substituted, namely:-

"(5) All cases coming before the tribunal shall be decided in accordance with the procedure as may be prescribed."; and

"Provided that the cases of the State shall be represented before the tribunal by an officer not below the rank of Excise and Taxation Officer or by the Law Officer.".