2019 (3) TMI 1482 - HC - VAT and Sales Tax

Vires of Entry No.45 of ScheduleII to the Gujarat Value Added Tax Act, 2003 - validity of assessment order - maintainability of petition against the order passed by the assessing authority - Held that - Issue Notice, returnable on 11.04.2019. By way of adinterim relief, the respondents are restrained from taking any coercive action against the petitioner pursuant to the assessment order dated 31.12.2018 read with order dated 23.02.2019.

Summary

Issues: Classification of IT products under the Gujarat Value Added Tax Act, 2003; Failure of the Assessing Officer to consider submissions and reasons for classification; Maintainability of the petition against the assessing authority's order.

The judgment by the Gujarat High Court dealt with the classification of Information Technology (IT) products under the Gujarat Value Added Tax Act, 2003. The petitioner's counsel pointed out that Entry No.45 of Schedule II of the Act provides for the rate of tax for IT products specified by the State Government. They referred to a Notification by the Government of Gujarat, adopting the classification from the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985, specifically mentioning subheading No.8471 30 for "Potable digital automatic data processing machines." The counsel argued that the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) had classified "Tablet Computers" under the same subheading, which should be binding on the Assessing Officer under the Gujarat VAT Act.

The Court noted that the Assessing Officer had not addressed the submissions made by the petitioner regarding the classification of IT products or provided reasons for disagreeing with the CBEC's classification. The petitioner relied on previous court decisions to argue the maintainability of the petition against the assessing authority's order. Citing precedents like West Coast Waterbase Private Limited v. State of Gujarat and Godrej Consumer Product Ltd. v. State of Gujarat, the petitioner contended that the petition was maintainable against the assessing authority's decision.

In response to the submissions made by the petitioner's counsel, the Court issued a Notice returnable on a specified date. Additionally, the Court granted ad-interim relief by restraining the respondents from taking any coercive action against the petitioner based on the assessment order. The Court also permitted direct service in this matter. The judgment focused on the proper classification of IT products under the Gujarat VAT Act, the failure of the Assessing Officer to consider relevant submissions, and the maintainability of the petition against the assessing authority's order, providing detailed analysis and legal references to support its decision.