In exercise of the powers conferred by section 83 of the Goa Value Added Tax Act, 2005 (Goa Act 9 of 2005) and all other powers enabling it in this behalf, the Government of Goa hereby makes the following rules so as to further amend the Goa Value Added Tax Rules, 2005, namely:-

1. Short title and commencement.-

(1) These rules may be called the Goa Value Added Tax (Fourteenth Amendment) Rules, 2018.

(2) They shall come into force from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

2. Amendment of rule 42.-

In rule 42 of the Goa Value Added Tax Rules, 2005 (hereinafter referred to as the "principal Rules"),-

(i) in sub-rule (1), the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:-

"Provided that the Commissioner may, by order, extend such date not beyond a period of two months.";

(ii) for sub-rule (1A), the following sub-rule shall be substituted, namely:-

"(1A) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-rule (1), the dealer liable to get his accounts audited as required under sub-section (1A) of section 70, shall transmit to the Appropriate Assessing Authority, the audited statement of accounts in Form VAT XV, using digital signature, on or before the last date of the third month immediately after the end of the relevant year through electronic system by using a system code availed from the Appropriate Assessing Authority. The Audit report shall be signed and verified by the Chartered Accountant setting forth all the particulars and certificates as are required to be specified in such Form. The dealer who transmits such audited statement of accounts to the Appropriate Assessing Authority shall not be liable to furnish final accounts under rule 42A:

Provided that the Commissioner may, by order, extend the due date of transmitting such audited statement of accounts for a further period not exceeding two months.".

3. Amendment of Form VAT-XV.-

In the principal Rules, in Form VAT-XV,-

(i) in the heading, the expression "in a case where the accounts of the business have been audited under any other law" shall be omitted;

(ii) for clause 1, the following clause shall be substituted, namely:-

"1(A) *I/We report that the statutory audit of ................................... (mention name and address of the dealer/ /person) holding Tax Identification No.................... under Goa Value Added Tax Act, 2005 (Goa Act 9 of 2005) and registration No ........................under the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 (Central Act No. 74 of 1956) *was conducted/is being conducted by me/us/M/s ............................. Chartered Accountants/*will be conducted in pursuance of the provisions of section ....................... of ............................... Act ................................and a copy of our/their audit report alongwith all the Annexures and a copy each of the following documents is *annexed hereto/would be furnished upon conclusion of the said Audit:-

(a) the audited profit and loss/income and expenditure account for year ended on ........................;

(b) the audited balance sheet as at ................; and

(c) documents declared by the said Act to be part of, or annexed to, the profit and loss/income and expenditure account and balance sheet.

(B) *I/We report that............................. (mention name and address of the dealer/ /person) holding Tax Identification No.......................... under Goa Value Added Tax Act, 2005 (Goa Act 9 of 2005) and registration No .................. under the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 (Central Act No. 74 of 1956) is not liable for statutory audit either under the Income Tax Act, 1961(Central Act 43 of 1961) or under the Companies Act, 2013 (Central Act No. 18 of 2013).".

By order and in the name of the Governor of Goa.

Sushama D. Kamat,

Under Secretary, Finance (R&C).