The Finance Minister of State of Maharashtra presented the Bill to amend certain provisions of the Maharashtra Value Added Tax (MVAT) Act and the other laws administered by the State of Maharashtra. We shall first consider the amendments to MVAT Act. The Bill is stated to have been passed, however, the copy of the Act is not available in public domain till date. Therefore, my article hereinabove is based on the copy of the L.A. Bill No. XVIII of 2017 dated 26th March, 2017.

A-1 Amendment to Assessment & Appeal Provisions: Sections 23 & 26 of MVAT Act

Drastic amendments are made in appeal and assessment provisions. In an appeal against ex parte order the Appellate Authority is now empowered to set aside the ex parte order and remand the matter to the Assessing Authority. Such remand order should be passed within 9 months of the commencement of this Act for the appeals which are already filed on the commencement date. For the appeals which are filed after this Act coming into force, the Appellate Authority may remand the matter within six months from the date of filing the appeal. The Assessing Authority shall pass a fresh assessment under section 23(6) within 18 months in case of remand by the First Appellate Authority and within 36 months if the remand is by any other authority. The period of limitation starts from the date of communication of the order to the concerned authority.

A.2 Simultaneously section 23(11) which allowed cancellation of order by the Assessing Authority will no longer be applicable to the assessment orders passed after commencement of the present Act.

A.3 The grant of stay was a separate proceeding once the appeal is filed. The dealer could continue the matter on merit without grant of stay. In the present budget Section 23 sub-section 6A is introduced wherein it is made mandatory to file the appeal with the proof of payment of 10% of the disputed tax. However, with the liability in the order is on account of non-production of declaration then in terms of section 23(6) already existing in the statute book, the dealer will have to pay full tax for the declarations which are not received till passing of the order. If the appeal is against the separate order imposing penalty, the Appellate Authority can direct the deposit of amount, not exceeding 10% of the amount of penalty disputed by the appellant. The 10% payment of the disputed tax has the upper cap of ₹ 15 crores. Therefore, if the disputed tax is more than ₹ 150 crores, say for example, ₹ 200 crores, the maximum 10% amount payable is ₹ 15 crores only.

A.4 Section 23 sub-section 6B is inserted for making similar amendment for a Second Appeal to be filed before the Tribunal with the only difference that the 10% payable would be of balance amount of disputed tax. On the amount being paid as stated in sub-sectiond 6A and 6B the stay shall be granted to the appellant. Consequential amendments are made to Section 40 of the MVAT Act.

A.5 Time limit for filing appeal before the High Court is extended to 180 days from the date of communication of the order of the Tribunal.

A.6 Amendment to interest provision

By newly inserting the Section 30(5) the State Government is empowered to issue notifications to remit the whole or part of the interest in respect of any period, payable by the prescribed class of registered dealers, who are not able to pay the tax due to technical problem of automated system of Department or who have obtained the registration late.

A.7 State to have first charge for recovery

In terms of the newly inserted Section 37(2) the first charge of the State as mentioned in Section 37(1) shall be deemed to have created on completion of the 30 days of service of the demand notice issued by the Commissioner.

A.8 Interest on delayed refund

Sub-Section 1A is inserted into Section 53. This beneficial provision reduces the time for grant of interest if the refund due after the commencement of this Act, is delayed beyond 60 days.

A-9 Amendment to Section 8(3C)

An amendment was made to this section in 2012. This sub-section empowers the State Government to exempt fully from payment of tax, the transfer of property in goods involved in processing the textiles described in First Schedule of the Additional Duties of Excise (Goods of Special Importance) Act, 1957. The words (as it stood immediately before 8th April, 2011) are substituted by inserting a new clause a-1 to the effect that the notification that 2012 amendment shall be deemed to come into force from 8th April, 2011.

One more amendment is made to Section 8(3D). This sub-section empowers the State to exempt by way of notification, the transfer of property in goods involved in sizing and wrapping of yarn either retrospectively or prospectively.

A10. Amendment to Schedule Entries

Schedule Entry No. Description New Rate of Tax
Sr. No. 1 Schedule A-64 New Entry Sale, during the period from the 1st April 2005 to 31st March, 2016, of processed, semi-processed, semi-cooked, ready-mix, ready-to-eat, shelled sweet corn, whether or not sold

(a) In a frozen state, or Treasury.

(b) In a sealed container, or

(c) Under a brand name,

except when served for consumption

Condition:

(1) Tax should not have been collected from the customer.

(2) Tax should not have been paid into Government Treasury

NIL
Sr. No. 2 Schedule A-8A Card Swipe machines for merchant transactions NIL
Sr. No. 3 Schedule A-9A (a) Paddy, rice, wheat and pulses in whole grain, split or broken form

(b) The flour of wheat & rice including atta, maida, rawa and suji whether sold singly or in mixed form

(c) The flour of pulses including besan when sold singly and not mixed with flour of other pulses or cereals, sold during the period from 1st May, 2006 to the date immediately preceding the date on which GST law shall come into force

NIL
Sr. No. 5 Schedule A-25A Newly inserted Gas or electric fired human body incinerator NIL
Sr. No. 6 Schedule A-25B Geomemberine use for farm pond of thickness of not less than 500 mircons having BIS specification NIL
Sr. No. 7 Schedule A-33A Milk testing kit for detecting milk adulteration NIL
Sr. No. 8 Schedule A-44A new entry Soil testing kit for determination of soil nutrients NIL
Sr. No. 9 Schedule A-51(ix) Amsul NIL
Sr. No. 10 Schedule A-51, 59 All the goods described in this entry shall continue to be exempt from 1-4-2017 to the date immediately preceding the date on which GST law shall come into force NIL
Sr. No. 11 Schedule C-108 All the goods described in this entry shall continue to be exempt from 1-4-2017 to the date immediately preceding the date on which GST law shall come into force
Sr. No. 12 Schedule D Amendment is made in the heading. Schedule D as list of goods for which rate of tax is up to 60%
Sr. No. 13 Schedule D-11A New entry Aviation, turbine fuel (duty paid) sold within the State of Maharashtra during the period starting on 1st April, 2017 to 31st March, 2027 for flights under regional connectivity scheme as communicated by Airport Authority of India, subject to the conditions to be notified in the Official Gazette. 1%
Sr. No. 14 Schedule D-6 Aviation, turbine fuel (duty paid) other than those covered by Schedule C-8 and Entries 11 and 11A of this Schedule 25%
Sr. No. 15 Notification relating to liquor under Section 41(5) The Notification relating to liquor covered by D1, 2 & 3 dated 30th April, 2011 is modified. The exemption in Schedule 1 of this notification refer to a formula as MRP x 30/130 in respect of sales mentioned in column 3. This formula is now substituted by
MRP x 35/135 with effect from 1st April, 2017.

Some further amendments are expected to this notification. However, the same is not uploaded.

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