Mukesh Kumar Singh Vs State of Bihar (Patna High Court)
Patna High Court held that passing of reassessment order under Bihar Value Added Tax Act, 2005 beyond the time limit stipulated under section 26(3) of the Act is barred by limitation and accordingly, order is liable to be set aside.
Facts- The case herein is that under the Bihar Value Added Tax Act, 2005, the system of filing of return by the Firm is u/s. 26 and it relates to self-assessment of tax read with Section 24. The petitioner filed returned for the year 2015-16 on 15.12.2016. Deadline for filing of return for the year 2015-16 is 31.12.2016. Respondents have invoked Sub-Section 2 of Section 26 while selecting the petitioner’s firm for the purpose of audit and audit was conducted. They have noticed certain discrepancies and proceeded to conduct audit on 16.12.2019. Further notice was issued on 26.12.2020 for appearance of the petitioner on 13.01.2021 at 11.00 A.M. The petitioner remained absent, resultantly, the concerned Authority proceeded to pass order on 01.12.2021. Hence, the present petition.
Conclusion- It is to be noted that under Sub-Section 26(3) there is no time limit stipulated independently for auditing, issuance of notice and its completion insofar as passing final order. In the absence of such time limit stipulation, one cannot draw inference that 36 months is required to be taken note of from the date of audit. In the present case, audit is being taken on 16.12.2019 with reference to filing of return on 15.12.2016 for the year 2015-16. Therefore, the contention of the Respondent cannot be accepted that 36 months is required to be calculated from the date of audit and not from the date of deadline (due date) for the concerned year.
