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 of Kerala on the 31st day of March, 2018.

By order of the Governor,

B. G Harindranath,

Law Secretary.

ACT 5 OF 2018

EXTRACT OF THE KERALA FINANCE ACT, 2018

An Act to give effect to certain financial proposals of the Government of Kerala for the Financial Year 2018-2019.

Preamble.-Whereas, it is expedient to give effect to certain financial proposals of the Government of Kerala for the Financial Year 2018-2019;

Be it enacted in the Sixty-ninth Year of the Republic of India as follows:-

1. Short title and Commencement.-

(1) This Act may be called the Kerala Finance Act, 2018.

(2) Save as otherwise provided in this Act, it shall come into force on the 1st day of April, 2018.

3. Amendment of Act 11 of 1957.In the Kerala Surcharge on Taxes Act, 1957 (11 of 1957), section 3 shall be omitted.

7. Amendment of Act 15 of 1963.In the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963 (15 of 1963),-

(1) in section 23B,-

(a) in sub-section (3), for the words and figures "31st December, 2017", the words and figures "30th June, 2018" shall be substituted;'

(b) in sub-section (4), for the words and figures "31st December, 2017", the words and figures "31st December, 2018" shall be substituted;

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

Explanation.- For the purpose of this Schedule,-

(i) "case" means, 48 bottles of 180 ml. each, or 24 bottles of 375 ml. each, or 18 bottles of 500 ml. each or 12 bottles of 750 ml. each, or 9 bottles of 1000 ml. each or 6 bottles of 1500 ml. each;

(ii) "purchase value" means the value at which the Kerala State Beverages (Manufacturing and Marketing) Corporation Limited purchases such liquor from the suppliers and in case any liquor is not purchased by the Kerala State Beverages (Manufacturing and Marketing) Corporation Limited, such value as fixed by the Commissioner of Excise, for the purpose of levy of duties under the provisions Of the Abkari Act, 1077 (1 of 1077)".

11. Amendment of Act 21 of 2008- In the Kerala Finance Act, 2008 (21 of 2008), in section 6,-

(1) (a) for the words and figures "section 5 and section 7", the words and figure "section 5, except on foreign liquor," shall be substituted;

.(b) the proviso shall be omitted;

(2) sub-section (2A) shall be omitted;*

(3) for sub-section (3), the following sub-section shall be substituted, namely:-

"(3) The Government may after due appropriation made by law in this behalf utilise such sum of money of Social Security Cess for the purposes specified in sub-section (1).";

(4) in sub-section (4), the word, brackets, figure and letter "and (2A)" shall be omitted.

12. Reduction of arrears in-certain cases.-

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-Sectiort (1) of section 173 of the Kerala Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (20 of 2017) and the Kerala Tax on Luxuries Act, 1976 (32 of 1976) (hereinafter referred to as the repealed Act) and the rules made thereunder or in any judgment, decree or order of any court, tribunal or appellate authority, an assessee who is in arrears of tax or any other amount due under the repealed Act relating to the period up to and including 31st March, 2011, may opt for settling the arrears on payment of the principal amount of tax in arrears and thirty per cent of penalty amount, by availing a complete reduction of the interest on the tax amount and interest on the penalty amount.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Kerala Revenue Recovery Act, 1968 (15 of 1968) reduction of arrears under sub-section (1) shall be applicable to those cases in which revenue recovery proceedings have been initiated and the assessing authorities under the repealed Act shall have the power to collect such amounts on settlement under sub-section (1) and where the amount is settled under sub-section (1) the assessing authorities shall withdraw the revenue recovery proceedings against such assessees which will then be binding on the revenue authorities and such assessees shall not be liable for payment of any collection charges.

(3) The assessee shall withdraw all the cases pending before any appellate or revisional authority, tribunal or courts for opting for settling the arrears under this section.

(4) All arrears including tax and penalties pertaining to a year shall be settled together under this section.

(5) An assessee who intends to opt for payment of arrears under sub-section (1) shall submit an application to the assessing authority on or before 30th June, 2018.

(6) The arrears for the purpose of settlement under this section shall be calculated as on the date of submission of application.

(7) On receipt of an application under sub-section (5), the assessing authority shall determine the amount of tax and other amounts due from the assessee under sub-section (1) and shall intimate the same to the assessee, and thereupon the assessee shall remit the amount in equal monthly instalments on or before 30th June, 2018:

Provided that an assessee who opts to settle his arrears under sub-section (1) has remitted any amount relating to the arrears for obtaining a stay voluntarily or by way of an order or decree or judgment passed by any court or tribunal or appellate authority and if the case is pending before such authority, the amount so paid shall be treated as that paid under this option.

(8) There shall not be any refund subsequently for the amount settled under this scheme, under any circumstances.