close

30.  Interest payable by a dealer or person:-

(1) A dealer who is liable to pay tax in respect of any year, and who has failed to apply for registration or has failed to apply for registration within the time as required by or under this Act, shall be liable to pay by way of simple interest, in respect of each of such years, in addition to the amount of tax payable in respect of such year, a sum calculated at the prescribed rate on the amount of such tax for each month or part thereof for the period commencing on the 1st April of the respective year to the date of the payment of tax.  The amount of such interest shall be calculated by taking into consideration the amount of, and the date of, such payment, when the payment is made on different dates or in parts or is not made. When, as a result of any order passed under this Act, the said amount of tax is reduced, the interest shall be reduced accordingly and where the said amount is enhanced, the interest on the enhanced amount shall be calculated mutatis-mutandis upto the date of such order:

 Provided that, in respect of any of such years, the amount of interest payable under this sub-section shall not exceed the amount of tax found payable for the respective year.

(2)  A registered dealer who has failed to pay the tax within the time specified by or under this Act, shall be liable to pay by way of simple interest, in addition to the amount of such tax, a sum calculated at the prescribed rate on the amount of such tax for each month or paid thereof after the last date by which he should have paid such tax:

Provided that, in relation to the tax payable according to the return, fresh return or as the case may be, fresh return or revised return], the said dealer shall, notwithstanding anything contained in any other provision of this Act, be deemed not to have paid the amount of such tax within the time he is required by or under the provisions of this Act to pay it if he has not paid the full amount of such tax on or before the last date prescribed for furnishing of such return and accordingly, if he has not paid the full amount of such tax or has paid only the part of the amount of such tax by such date, he shall be liable under this clause for payment of interest after such date on the full or part, as the case may be, of the amount of tax which has not been paid by such date and where a dealer has furnished a fresh return or revised return and the amount of tax payable as per the fresh return or revised return exceeds the amount of tax payable as per the original return, then for the purposes of this sub-section, the dealer shall be deemed to have been required to pay the excess amount of tax at the time he was required to pay the tax as per the original return and accordingly he shall be liable to pay interest under this sub-section on the said excess amount of tax.

Provided further that, in case a dealer files an annual revised return, as provided under clause (b) or, as the case may be, clause (c) of sub-section (4) of section 20, then the interest shall be payable on the excess amount of tax, as per such annual return, from the dates mentioned in column (2) of the Table, till the date of payment of such excess amount of tax.

Provided also that, in case a dealer, whose registration is deemed to be cancelled under sub-section (6A) of section 16 , files an annual revised return, as provided under clause (b) or, as the case may be, clause (c), of sub-section (4) of section 20, for any period starting from the 1st April 2017, then the interest shall be payable on the excess amount of tax, payable as per such annual revised return from the prescribed dates by the prescribed class of dealers.

                                                                                                                               Table

Registration status in the year for which annual revised return is filed
(1)

Interest to be computed from
(2)

(a) Dealer, holding certificate of registration for whole year. 1st October of the year, to  which the annual revised return relates.
(b) Certificate of registration granted, effective from any date up to the 30th September of the year to which revised return relates. 1st October of the year, to which the annual revised return relates.
(c) Certificate of registration cancelled, effective on any date after the 30th September of the year to which revised return relates.

1st October of the year, to which the annual revised return relates.

(d) Certificate of registration cancelled, effective on any date prior to the 30th September of the year which revised return relates.

effective date of registration.

(e) Certificate of registration cancelled, effective on any date prior to the 30th September of the year to which revised return relates. Effective date of cancellation of registration.



(3)  In the case of a registered dealer, in whose case, any tax other than the tax on which interest is leviable under sub-section (2) has remained unpaid upto one month after the end of the period of assessment, such dealer shall be liable to pay by way of simple interest, a sum calculated at the prescribed rate on the amount of such tax] for each month or part thereof from the date next following the last date of the period covered by an order of assessment till the date of the order of assessment and where any payment of such unpaid tax whether in full or part is made on or before the date of the order of assessment, the amount of such interest shall be calculated by taking into consideration the amount and the date of such payment.  If, as a result of any order passed under this Act, the said amount of tax is reduced, then the interest shall be reduced accordingly and where the said amount is enhanced, then interest on the enhanced amount shall be calculated mutatis mutandis up to the date of such order from the said date next.

(4) If,-
(a) after the commencement of,-


(i) audit of the business of the dealer in respect of any period, or
(ii) inspection of the accounts, registers and documents pertaining to any period, kept at any place of business of the dealer, or
(iii) entry and search of any place of business or any other place where the dealer has kept his accounts, registers, documents pertaining to any period or stock of goods,

(b) in consequence of any intimation issued under sub-section (7) of section 63,

the dealer files one or more returns or, as the case may be, revised returns in respect of the said period, then he shall be liable to pay by way of interest, in addition to the amount of tax, if any, payable as per the return or, as the case may be, revised return, a sum equal to 25 per cent. of the additional tax payable as per the return or, as the case may be, revised return. 

Provided that interest under this sub-section shall not be payable on account of the additional tax liability arising due to non-production of declarations or as the case may be certificates:

Provided futher that if the amount of tax paid as per revised return is less than 10 percent of the sggregate amount of tax paid as per the original returns, in respect  of the corresponding period then no interest under this sub-section shall be payable.
Explanation: For the purpose of this sub-section the expressions-
(i) tax paid as per original return shall be deemed to include the amount of tax paid, as per the revised returns, filed before the commencement of proceeding specified in clause (a) or before the receipt of intimation specified in clause (b) of sub-section (4).
(ii) tax paid shall mean the amount of tax paid by such person or dealer after the adjustment of set off.

(5) The State Government may, from time to time, by notification published in the Official Gazette, subject to such conditions mentioned therein, remit the whole or any part of the interest, in respect of any period, payable by any prescribed class of registered dealers,—

(i) who were not able to pay the tax during the prescribed period, due to technical problems of the automation system of the Sales Tax Department, or

(ii) who obtained registration late.