State of Kerala Vs Petrolink Data Services (P) Ltd (Kerala High Court)
Kerala High Court held that imposition of penalty u/s. 47(6) of Kerala Value Added Tax Act unjustified as declaration in Form 16 produced demonstrating that goods that were being transported were for own use of the assessee.
Facts- The respondent assessee was engaged in the business of IT Technical Support and Software Development during the year 2012-2013. Apparently, they had not taken registration under the KVAT Act, 2003 during the said year and the registration was applied for and obtained only in 2014, when the assessee became a unit situated in the special economic zone. The penalty proceedings were initiated in respect of a consignment of computers, peripherals, and parts, which the assessee had obtained from a dealer in Bangalore. Although it was the case of the respondent assessee that the consignment was accompanied by valid invoices and checkpost declarations in Form 8F as also by a declaration in Form 16 that was subsequently produced before the detaining authority to show that the goods were intended for own use, and not for resale, the Intelligence Officer by his order dated 21.08.2017 found that the transportation was with an intent to evade tax, and consequently imposed a penalty of Rs.8,12,900/- on the respondent assessee.
