The Assam Professions, Trades, Callings and Employments Taxation (Amendment) Act, 1971

103 ASSAM ACT XVII OF 197i THE ASSAM PROFESSIONS, TRADES, CA.LUNGS AND EMPLOYMENT.:l TAXATION (AMENDMENT) AC r, 1971 (As passed by the Assembly) (R~ceived the assent of the Governor ll)l:l the 28th June, 1971) [Publishecl in the Assam Ga;;,ette Extraordinary, dated the 2nd July 1971] An Act further to ameni the Arsam Professions Trades, Callings and Employments Taxation Act, 1947. Preamble. Whereas it is expedient further to amend the Assam An A~sarn Profossions, frades, Callings and Employments VI of 1947 Taxation Act, 1947, hereinafter called the principal Act . in the manner hereinafter appearing ; It is hereby enacted in the Twetit )'·Second year of the Republic of India as follows- Short titi'!, . 1.(1) Thi! Act _may be called the Assam Prorr.s- cxtent and s10ns, Trades, Callings and Employments T axat1on cornmence- (Amendment) Act, 1971. ment. Amendment of Section 2 of Assam Act VI of !947. (2) It shall ha~e the like extent as the principal Act. (3) It shall come in to fqrce on such date as the State Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, appoint. 2. In section 2 of the principal Act: - ( l) after clause (aa), the following shall be inserted as clause (aaa), namely:-- "(aaa)" assessee "means a person by whom tax . i~ payable under the provisions of this Act." (2) for clause ~c), the followin~ shall be subs­ tituted, namely :- "(c)" previous year "means the twelve months ending on the 31st of March nt>xt pr~ceding the year for which assessment is to be made or if the accounts of the assessee have heed 104 made up w a date witnin the said twelve months in respect of a year ending on any date other than the said 31st day of March, or if the accounts of an assessee are made up to a date ending on the last date of Bengali or Ramnavami year beyond the said 31st day of ~arch then at the option of the assessee the year ending on the day to which his accounts have been so made up: Provided that if this option has once been exer­ cised by the assessee, it shall not again be exercised except with the consent of the Commissioner or such other officer as mav be authorised by him in this behalf, and upon l'Jch conditions :is the Commissioner or such other officer may think fit." Amendment 3, For srction I 0 of the principal Act, the of section following shall be substituted, namely:- 10 of Assam Act VI of 1947. "10.(1) Any assessee objecting to an order passed under this Act by any officer other than fhe C ommissioner or the Assistant Com­ misc;ioner mentioned in section 6 of this Act, may, within thirty days from the date of service of such order appeal to the Assistant Commissioner against such order in the mann~r prescribed : Provided that no appeal a-;ainst an order of assessment or penalty shall be entertained by the As8istant Commissioner unless he is satisfied that the amount of tax assessed or penalty levied, if not otherwis'.! directed by him, has been paid: Pmvided further that the Assistant Commissioner before whom the appeal is filed may admit it after the expiration of thirty days, if he is satisfied that for reasons beyond the control of the appellant of or for any other sufficient cause it could not be filed within time. ( 2) Every appeal under sub-section ( 1) shall be preH·nted in the prescribed form and shall te verified in the prescribed manner. ... (3) (4) 105 The Assistant Commi~sioner shall fix a day and place for hearing of the appeal, a_nd may from time to time adjourn the hearmg and make or cause to be made, such further enquiry as may be deemed necessary. In disposing of the appeal under sub·section ( 1) against an order of assessment or penalty, the Assistant Commissioner may- (a) confirm, reduce, enhance or annul the assessment, or (b) set aside the assessment and direct a fresh a~sessment after such inquiry as may be ordered ; or (c) confirm, reduce or annul the order of penalty." Amendment 4. For section lOA of the principal Act, the of section followinO" shall be substituted, namely:- lOA of Auam 0 Act VI of 1947. "lOA 1:1) The Commi>sioner may call for and examine the record of any proceedin~ under the Act, and if he considers that any order passed therein by any officer ether than himself, is erroneous in so fa r as it is prejudicial to the interest of revenue, he may, after giving the as3essee an opportunity of being heard and alter making or causing to be made such enquiry as he deems necessary, pass such orders thereon as the circumstances of the case justify, including an order enhancing or modifying the assessment, or cancelling the a5sessment and direct· ing a .. fresh a~sessment. (2) In the case of any order other than an order to which sub-section ( l) applies, passed under this Act. by any officer other than himself, the Commia;ioner may of his own motion, and in the case of an order passed under section IO, also, subject to such rules as may be prescri­ bed, on a petition by an assessee for revision, call for the record of any pro­ ceeding under this Act in which any such order has been passed and may make such enquiry or cause such enquiry to be made~ and subject to the provision~ 106 of this Act, may pass such order thereon · not being an order prejudicial to the assessees, as he thinks fit: Provided _that the Commissioner may dispense with the enquiry required to be made under this sub-section, if he, for reasons to be recor­ ded, considers such enquiry to b t> unnecessary. (3) In the case of a petition for revi~i on u ·:cl .. r sub-section (2) by a n assessee, the petitior. shall be made within ninety days fron:; the date on which the order in question was communicated to him or the date on which he otherwise comes to know of it, whichever is earlier: Provided that t he Commissioner before whom the petition is filed may admit it after the expira­ tion of the period of n inety days il he is satisfied that for reasons beyond the control of the petitioner or for any other s11fficient cause, it could not be filed within time. Esplanation :-An order by the Commissioner declining to interfere sha ll, for the purpose of this section, be deemed not to be an order prejudicial to the assessee." Amenament 5. In section 13 of the principal Act, the provi so of section to sub-section { 1) shall be deleted . 13 of Assam Act VI of I 947. Clause 2. Clauses 3 and 4. Clau:e 5. EXPLANATORY NOTES Clause 2 is intended to relieve the assessees who observe for the purpose of accoun ting any year other than the financial )·ear of the hardship of having to prepare their accounts of profits or loss for the pur­ pose of the Act, financial year-wise. The proposed chan(\es will not in any way ·affect revenues. Ut1der the existing provisions of the law, petitions for revision can be filed against all orders whether passed on appeal or otherwise with the result that innumerable petitions for revision are filed before the Commissioner in order to circumvent the process of appeal nnd to delay p a) ment of due taxes, thus restricting the opportunity for the important func­ tionary to ensure adequate supervisio11 of the work of his subordinates. Clause 3 is intrnded to make all orders appealable and clause 4 is intended to restrict petitions for revision; The change proposed in this clause is consequential to the change sought to be brought about by clause 3.