By order and in the name of the Governor of Maharashtra,

RAJENDRA G. BHAGWAT,

Secretary (Legislation) to Government,

Law and Judiciary Department.

EXTRACT of the Maharashtra Tax Laws (Second Amendment and Validation) Act, 2019.

MAHARASHTRA ACT No. XVI OF 2019.

(First published, after having received the assent of the Governor in the " Maharashtra Government Gazette", on the 9th July 2019).

An Act further to amend certain tax laws in operation in the State of Maharashtra.

WHEREAS it is expedient further to amend certain tax laws in operation in the State of Maharashtra, for the purposes hereinafter appearing; it is hereby enacted in the Seventieth Year of the Republic of India as follows :-

CHAPTER I

Preliminary

1. Short title and commencement.

(1 ) This Act may be called the Maharashtra Tax Laws (Second Amendment and Validation) Act, 2019.

(2) Save as otherwise provided in this Act, it shall come into force on the date of publication of this Act in the Official Gazette.

Chapter III

Amendments to The Maharashtra Value Added Tax Act, 2002.

5. Amendment of section 23 of Mah. IX of 2005.

In section 23 of the Maharashtra Value Added Tax Act, 2002 (Mah. IX of 2005.) (hereinafter referred to as the " Value Added Tax Act "), in sub-section (5), to clause (a), the following proviso shall be inserted and shall be deemed to have been inserted with effect from the 1st April 2005, namely :-

" Provided that, where,-

(i) a registered dealer has claimed refund in his last return or a revised return containing last day of the year, or

(ii) an auditor has mentioned about eligibility for refund in his audit report under section 61,

then the prescribed authority may, subject to the conditions, restrictions and safeguards as may be prescribed, after adjusting the refund so claimed or, as the case may be, so mentioned, against the tax liability, interest and penalty, if any, determined in the proceedings initiated under this clause, grant net refund to such dealer or, as the case may be, determine the net tax liability :

Provided further that, the amount of refund claimed in the return filed or mentioned in the audit report filed under section 61, whichever is filed later, but not later than the 31st March 2019, in any case, may only be considered for the purposes of the first proviso.''.

6. Amendment of section 61 of Mah. IX of 2005.

In section 61 of the Value Added Tax Act, 2002, in sub-section (1), after the proviso, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely :-

" Provided further that, a dealer whose tax liability, in any year commencing on or after the 1st April 2019 does not exceed rupees twenty-five thousand, shall not be liable to file such audit report.

Explanation.- For the purpose of this proviso, the expression "tax liability" means the total of all taxes payable by a dealer under the Value 74 of Added Tax Act or, as the case may be, the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, after adjustment of the amount of set-off or refund claimed by the dealer, if any, under the respective Acts.''.

CHAPTER IV

Validation And Saving.

7. (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any judgment, decree Validation or order of any Court or Tribunal to the contrary, any assessment, appeal, and saving. review, levy or collection of tax in respect of sales or purchases effected by any dealer or person, or any action taken or thing done in relation to such assessment, appeal, review, levy or collection of tax under the provisions of Value Added Tax Act, as amended by the Maharashtra Tax Laws (Second Amendment and Validation) Act, 2019 (Mah. XVI of 2019.) (hereinafter, in this section, referred to as "the Amendment Act" ) shall be valid and always be deemed to be valid and effective, as if the provisions relating to assessment, appeal, review, levy or collection or action or thing were prevalent under the Value Added Tax Act, on the relevant date and accordingly,-

(a) all acts, proceedings or things done or taken by the State Government or by any officer of the State Government or by any other authority in connection with the assessment, appeal, review, levy or collection of any such tax, shall, for all purposes be deemed to be, and to have always been done or taken in accordance with the law ;

(b) no suit, appeal, application or other proceedings shall lie or be maintained or continued in any Court or before any Tribunal, officer or other authority, for the refund of any tax so paid ; and

(c) no Court, Tribunal, Officer or other authority shall enforced any decree or order directing the refund of any such tax.

(2) For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that nothing in subsection (1) shall be construed as preventing a person,-

(a) from questioning in accordance with the provisions of the Value Added Tax Act, as amended by the Amendment Act, any assessment, appeal, review, levy or collection of tax referred to in sub-section (1), or

(b) from claiming of refund of any tax paid by him in excess of the amount due from him by way of tax under the Value Added Tax Act, as amended by the Amendment Act.