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 23rd day of July, 2013.

By order of the Govenor,

C. REMANI,

Special Secretary (Law).

Act 29 of 2013

EXTRACT OF THE KERALA FINANCE ACT, 2013

An Act to give effect to certain financial proposals of the Government of Kerala for the Financial Year 2013-2014.

Preamble.-WHEREAS, it is expedient to give effect to certain financial proposals of the Government of Kerala for the Financial Year 2013-2014;

BE it enacted in the Sixty-fourth Year of the Republic of India as follows:-

1. Short title and Commencement

(1) This Act may be called the Kerala Finance Act, 2013.

(2) Save as otherwise provided in this Act, clauses (c) and (i) of sub-section (7) of section 4, sub-section (8), sub-clause (iv) of clause (c) of sub-section (9) of section 10 and section 11 shall come into force at once and the remaining provisions of this Act shall be deemed to have come into force on the 1st day of April, 2013.

10. Amendment of Act 30 of 2004.-

In the Kerala Value Added Tax Act, 2003 (30 of 2004),-

(1) in section 6, in sub-section (1),-

(a) in the Table,-

(i) in serial number 1, for the figure "15" in column (4), the figure "20" shall be substituted;

(ii) in serial number 3, for the entry in column (2), the following entry shall be substituted, namely:-

"Carry bags made of plastic including polypropylene, which have a vest type self carrying feature to carry commodities"

(iii) after serial number 3 and the entries against it in columns (2), (3) and (4), the following serial number and entries shall, respectively, be inserted, namely:-

.

(b) in clause (d), for the figures and symbol "13.5%" occurring in both places, the figures and words "14.5 per cent" shall be substituted;

(c) in clause (f), for the figures and words "13.5 per cent" the figures and words "14.5 per cent" shall be substituted;

(d) in the twelfth proviso, the words and figures "with effect from 1st April, 2006" shall be added at the end;

(e) after the thirteenth proviso, the following provisos shall be inserted, namely:-

"Provided also that the tax on the sale of cardamom, at the point of auction only, conducted at the auction centre holding a valid license issued by the Spices Board under the Cardamom (Licensing and Marketing) Rules, 1987, shall be at the rate of two per cent:

Provided also that cooked food and beverages sold by Milk Suppliers' Co-operative Society registered under the Kerala Co-operative Societies Act, 1969 (21 of 1969) through their canteens established at their places of business shall be exempted from tax with effect from 1st April, 2011."

(2) in section 8,-

(a) in clause (b), for the letter and word "M-sand" the words "Manufactured sand" shall be substituted;

(b) in clause (g), for the figures and symbol "13.5%" the figures and words "14.5 per cent" shall be substituted;

(c) after clause (g), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:-

"(h) any dealer, who is an importer or a manufacturer of cigarettes and similar products mentioned in serial number 1 of the Table in clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 6, may, at his option, pay, in such manner and subject to such conditions and restrictions as may be prescribed, in lieu of the tax payable by him on such goods under the said sub-section, tax at the rate of 20 per cent of the maximum retail price of such goods.

Explanation: - For the purpose of this clause, maximum retail price in respect of the goods means the maximum price printed on the package of any goods at which such goods may be sold to the ultimate consumer:

Provided that where a registered dealer has purchased any goods,-

(a) from an importer or a manufacturer who has opted for payment of tax under this clause; or

(b) from another registered dealer where the tax on the maximum retail price of such goods was paid in the State on an earlier sale, such dealer shall, notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, but subject to such conditions and restrictions as may be prescribed, be exempted from payment of tax under clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 6 in respect of the sale of such goods and shall be entitled to recover from the buyers the amount of tax paid by him at the time of purchase of such goods and the turnover of such goods shall not be included in the total turnover for the purpose of sub-section (5) of section 6, where the dealer opts for payment of tax in accordance with the said sub-section in respect of goods other than the goods covered under this clause:

Provided further that a dealer who opts payment of tax under this clause shall not allow any trade discount or incentive in terms of quantity of goods in relation to any sale of goods covered under the clause, effected by him, for the purpose of calculating his tax liability."

(3) in section 15, in sub-section (1), for the words "five lakh rupees" the words "ten lakhs rupees" shall be substituted;

(4) after section 18A, the following section shall be inserted, namely:-

"18B. Special provision for one-time incentive to new registrants.-

Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, dealers who were liable to take registration under this Act, but had not taken registration, may voluntarily take registration between 1st April, 2013 and 30th September, 2013 and such dealers shall not be liable to tax or penalties with respect to the transactions prior to 1st April, 2013:

Provided that this section shall not be applicable to the transactions of dealers who were,-

(a) importers;

(b) works contractors;

(c) manufacturers, but excluding dealers coming under sub-clause (i) of clause (c) of section 8; and

(d) dealers against whom penal proceedings were initiated for non-registration and non-payment of tax under this Act, before 1st April, 2013:

Provided further that hospitals run by charitable institutions which avail exemption under the Income Tax Act, 1961 (Central Act 43 of 1961) and purchasing medicines from compounded dealer after paying tax under clause (e) of section 8 shall be exempted from tax on their sale of such medicines and on the sale of laboratory store items and consumables, to their patients

Provided also that, with regard to such hospitals which were liable to take registration under this Act, but had not taken registration till 31st March, 2013 shall get itself registered on or before 30th June, 2013 to avail the concessions as per the foregoing proviso for the period from 1st April, 2005 to 31st March, 2013.".

(5) in section 24, in sub-section (1), for the fourth proviso, the following proviso shall be substituted, namely:-

"Provided also that the assessments pending as on 31st March, 2013 under this section shall be completed on or before 31st March, 2014."

(6) in section 25, in sub-section (1), for the third proviso, the following proviso shall be substituted, namely:-

"Provided also that the assessments pending as on 31st March, 2013 under this section shall be completed on or before 31st March, 2014."

(7) after section 25A, the following section shall be inserted, namely:-

"25B Extension of period of limitation for assessments in certain Cases.-

Notwithstanding anything contained in section 24 or in section 25, in cases where any investigation or inquiry is pending under this Act or any other law or where any assessment cannot be completed within the period specified under the said sections, the Deputy Commissioner may, for good and sufficient reasons, extend the period of completion of the assessment beyond the period specified in those sections."

(8) in section 48, in sub-section (1), the following sentence shall be added at the end, namely:-

"A fee of one hundred rupees shall be payable to Government on each transit pass so issued."

(9) in the SCHEDULES,-

(a) in the FIRST SCHEDULE,-

(i) after serial number 42 and the entries against it in columns (2) and (3), the following serial number and entries shall, respectively, be inserted, namely:-

(ii) after serial number 61 and the entries against it in columns (2) and (3), the following serial number and entries shall, respectively, be inserted, namely:-

(b) in the SECOND SCHEDULE,-

(i) after serial number 1 and the entries against it in columns (2) and (3) the following serial number and entries shall, respectively, be inserted, namely:-

(ii) for serial number 6 and the entries against it in columns (2) and (3), the following serial number and entries shall, respectively, be substituted, namely:-

(c) in the THIRD SCHEDULE,-

(i) serial number 62 and the entries against it in columns (2) and (3) shall be omitted;

(ii) after serial number 86A and the entries against it in columns (2) and (3), the following serial number and entries shall, respectively, be inserted, namely:-

(iii) in serial number 87, in the entries against item (2), in column (2), for the words, letters and figures "whose M.R.P. does not exceed Rs.200" the words, letters and figures "its M.R.P. does not exceed Rs.500" shall be substituted;

(iv) In serial number 93, in item (1), after sub-section (b) and the entries against it in columns (2) and (3), the following sub-item and entries shall, respectively, be inserted, namely:-

(iv) in serial number 107, items (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), (11), (12), (13), (14), (15), (16), (24), (25), (31) and the entries against them in columns (2) and (3) shall be omitted;

(v) after serial number 141 and the entries against it in columns (2) and (3), the following serial number and entries shall, respectively, be inserted, namely:-

(d) in LIST A,-

(i) after serial number 84 and the entries against it in columns (2) and (3), the following serial number and entries shall, respectively, be inserted namely:-

(ii) in serial number 135A, in the entry in column (2), after the words "agriculture gloves" the words "household gloves" shall be inserted;

(iii) in serial number 174, after item (10) and the entries against it in columns (2) and (3), the following item and entries shall, respectively, be inserted, namely:-