The Federation of Jharkhand Commercial Taxes Bar Association (FJCTBA) has urged the commercial taxes authorities in the state to stop inspection of business premises and vehicles, as well as imposition of penalties, in an arbitrary manner.
In a three-page memorandum submitted to the state principal secretary (commercial taxes), FJCTBA has said among other things that inspection of business premises under section 70 of the Jharkhand VAT Act 2005 were being conducted and completed ?in a most arbitrary manner? and goods were being seized without providing due opportunity to the assessee of explaining any differences found and without properly recording the replies being offered at the time of such inspection/checking.
The tax body says that penalties for alleged defaults/differences were being imposed ?in a mechanical manner without judiciously considering the replies filed or the submissions being made? by the assessee in compliance of the showcause notice issued to him by the department.
According to FJCTBA general secretary R N Gupta the options the tax payer was therefore left with today were either to ?compromise? with the tax authorities or face heavy penalty.
The federation has also urged that the department should accept statutory forms (like Form ?C?, ?E?, ?F?, JVAT 404, 410 & 411) which have been received late by the assessee and the same should be considered by the appellate authorities too.
?These (statutory forms) are currently not accepted on the illegal ground that the time limit for completion of assessment in such cases was over,? said FJCTBA president M D Kedia.
According to the FJCTBA president, there was no time limit prescribed in the Act for acceptance and consideration of such forms by the appellate courts; there were also numerous judicial pronouncements in favour of acceptance of such forms even up to the tribunal stage, the last fact-finding authority.
FJCTBA has also urged the principal secretary (commercial taxes) to issue promptly registration certificates to those applying for it under Form JVAT 106, 107 and 108 as such certificates were presently being issued ?much beyond the prescribed time limit?.
Also, the memorandum alleges that registration certificates to old dealers registered under the finance act were, in several cases, yet to be issued/delivered even though five years had elapsed since Jharkhand Vat Act, 2005 was introduced.