2000 (9) TMI 1016 - AT - VAT and Sales Tax

Summary

Issues:
1. Assessment based on suppression of turnover for the year 1982-83.
2. Applicability of penalty under section 16(2) of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959.
3. Interpretation of the assessment by the Appellate Tribunal regarding suppression and penalty.
4. Justification of deduction from the turnover determined under section 16(1)(a) of the Act.
5. Comparison of the original assessment under section 12 and the assessment under section 16(1) of the Act.

Analysis:
1. The case involved an assessment of an assessee for the year 1982-83 based on the recovery of slips indicating purchase suppression, leading to the determination of actual sales suppression and penalty under section 16(1) of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959.

2. The Appellate Assistant Commissioner initially sustained the suppression and reduced the penalty to 100 per cent, while the Appellate Tribunal further revised the suppression amount and imposed a penalty of 50 per cent on the revised suppression amount, leading to the present revision.

3. The Tribunal, after careful consideration, found that the actual suppression determined was valid, despite initial doubts, and disagreed with the Appellate Tribunal's deduction from the turnover determined under section 16(1)(a) of the Act, emphasizing the independent nature of assessments under sections 12 and 16 of the Act.

4. The Tribunal referred to a Madras High Court decision highlighting that assessments under section 16(1) are distinct from those under section 12, and any set-off from the original assessment in the reassessment proceedings is unwarranted, leading to the setting aside of the relief granted by the Appellate Tribunal.

5. Consequently, the Tribunal partly allowed the tax revision case, fixing the actual suppression at Rs. 6,50,568 and imposing a penalty of 50 per cent on this amount, emphasizing the independent nature of assessments under different sections of the Act and rejecting the deduction from the original turnover in the reassessment proceedings.