CHAPTER IV
REGISTRATION
16. Registration:-
(1) No dealer shall, while being liable to pay tax under this Act, be engaged in the business as a dealer, unless he possesses a valid certificate of registration as provided by this Act :
Provided that, the provisions of this sub-section shall be deemed not to have been contravened, if the dealer having applied, within the prescribed time, for such registration as provided in this section, is engaged in such business :
Provided further that, if any dealer, holds the certificate of registration granted under the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959, which is effective or valid immediately before the appointed day, it shall not be necessary for him to apply for a fresh certificate under this section so long as the said certificate is not duly cancelled under this Act :
Provided also that, a dealer holding an effective certificate of registration or, as the case may be, a licence granted before the appointed day, under any laws other than the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959, shall, notwithstanding the fact that he is holding such effective certificate be required to apply for grant of certificate of registration under this section.
(2) Every dealer, required by sub-section (1) to possess a certificate of registration or one who voluntarily desires to get registered shall apply in the prescribed manner to the prescribed authority for grant of such registration.
1[Provided that, if the application is made on or after the commencement of the Maharashtra Tax Laws (Levy, Amendment and Validation) Act, 2011, by a person who voluntarily desires to get registered, the application shall not be entertained, unless the applicant has deposited an amount of rupees 25,000 in the Government Treasury by way of security deposit and the amount so deposited shall not be adjusted against the tax payable as per any return or towards any other liability under this Act.]
2[(2A) The security deposit deposited under the proviso to sub-section (2) shall be refundable on such conditions, restrictions and within such time as may be prescribed. The security deposit shall be forfeited, if there is no compliance of such conditions, restrictions and time limit.]
(3) 3[If the prescribed authority, after scrutiny of the application and after such enquiry as it deems fit, is satisfied that the application for registration is in order and the prescribed conditions are fulfilled, shall register the applicant and issue to him a certificate of registration in the prescribed form]:
Provided that, on finding that,—
(i) the application is not complete, or
(ii) the documents prescribed for grant of registration certificate have not been uploaded on the department’s web site i.e. www.mahavat.gov.in, or
(iii) such documents are not consistent with the information contained in the application or are not legible, or
(iv) the prescribed conditions are not fulfilled, the prescrine authority may pass the rejection order wihtout giving an opportunity of being heard and shll intimate the applicant accordingly in the prescribed manner:
Provided further that, if the applicant complies with all the discrepencies intimated in the rehection order within thirty days from the date of intimation of rejection order and if such complicance is approved by the prescribed authority, then the application rejected earlier under the first proviso shall stand restored. However, the applicant shall be eligible to comply with the discrepancies under this proviso only once.
(4) The Commissioner may, after considering any information furnished under any of the provisions of this Act or otherwise received, amend, from time to time, any certificate of registration.
(5) A person or a dealer who has got himself registered shall be liable to pay tax during the period in which his registration certificate is effective, notwithstanding the fact that subsequently it is found that no registration certificate was necessary in his case.
(6) Where,-
(a) any business, in respect of which a certificate of registration has been issued under this section, has been discontinued or otherwise disposed of, or has been transferred 5[* * *], or
(b) the turnover, of sales or the turnover of purchases of a registered dealer who has become liable to pay tax under section 3 has during any year not exceeded the relevant limit specified in sub-section (4) of section 3 or,
(c) the turnover of sales of a registered dealer, other than an importer, has during the year 2013-14, not exceeded the limit specified in sub-section (4) of section 3.
then in the case covered by clause (a), the dealer shall apply in the prescribed manner and within the prescribed time, for cancellation of his registration to the Commissioner, and in the case covered by clause (b), the dealer may apply, in the prescribed manner, for cancellation, of his registration to the Commissioner; and thereupon the Commissioner may, after such inquiry as he deems fit and subject to the rules, cancel the registration with effect from such date including any date earlier to the date of the order of cancellation as he considers fit having regard to the circumstances of the case. In the case covered by clause (c), the dealer may apply in the prescribed form for cancellationof his registration to the commissioner on or before the 30th September 2014 and thereupon the commissioner may, after such enquiry as he deems fit cancel the registration with effect from the 1st October 2014. The registration certificate cancelled under this sub-section shall be returned to the Commissioner within the prescribed time :
Provided that, where the Commissioner is satisfied that any business in respect of which a certificate has been issued under this section has been discontinued or disposed of 5[* * *], and the dealer has failed to apply under clause (a) as aforesaid for cancellation of registration, the Commissioner may, after giving the dealer a reasonable opportunity of being heard, cancel the registration with effect from such date as he may fix to be the date in accordance with the rules, if any, from which the business has been discontinued or disposed of or changed to a different local area, as the case may be :
Provided further that, where the Commissioner is satisfied that any person,—
(a) who has voluntarily got himself registered has not commenced business within six months from the date of registration, or
(b) has obtained registration by fraud or by misrepresentation of facts,
the Commissioner may, after giving the person a reasonable opportunity of being heard, cancel the registration certificate with effect from such date as he may fix in accordance with the rules.
7[Provided also that], the cancellation of a certificate of registration on an application or otherwise shall not affect the liability of the dealer to pay the tax including any penalty, amount forfeited and interest due for any period ending on or before the date of cancellation whether such tax including any penalty, amount forfeited and interest is assessed before the date of cancellation but remains unpaid, or is assessed thereafter,
8[Explanation * * * deleted w.e.f. 20-6-2006]
(7) The Commissioner shall, by such date as he may notify in the Official Gazette, prepare a list of all registered dealers and may amend the list, from time to time. Any person may make an application in the prescribed form to the Commissioner for a certified copy of any extract from the list and thereupon the Commissioner, shall furnish a copy of the extract to the applicant.
(8) Save as otherwise provided in sub-section (9), a certificate of registration granted under this section and any certificate that may be granted under this Act, shall be personal to the dealer or person to whom it is granted, and shall not be transferable.
(9) Where a registered dealer,-
(a) effects a change in the name of his business, or
(b) is a firm, and there is a change in the constitution of the firm without dissolution thereof, or
(c) is a trustee of a trust, and there is change in the trustees thereof, or
(d) is a guardian of a ward, and there is a change in the guardian or termination of guardianship, or
(e) is a Hindu Undivided Family and there is a change of Karta, or
(f) is a private limited company which is converted into a public limited company,
then, merely by reason of occurrence of any of the changes aforesaid, it shall not be necessary for the dealer, or the firm with the changed constitution, or the new trustees, or new guardian or the ward or the new Karta or the public limited company to apply for a fresh certificate of registration and on information being furnished in the manner required by section 18, the certificate of’ registration shall, where necessary, be amended and any other certificate granted under the Act, rules or notifications shall also continue to be valid and be amended where necessary with effect from the appropriate date.
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1. This proviso substituted by Mah. Act No. XV of 2011, dt. 21st April 2011 w.e.f. 1st May 2011. Earlier
this “Proviso” was added by Mah. Act No. XXV of 2007, dt. 6.8.2007 w.e.f. 15.8.2007 as per Notification No. VAT.1507/CR-57/Taxation-1, dt. 10.8.2007and read as:
“ [Provided that, in the case of an application made by a person who voluntarily desires to get registered, the certificate of registration shall not be granted unless the applicant has deposited an amount of Rs. 25,000 in the Government Treasury as advance towards the tax, interest or penalty, if any, that may become due. The amount so deposited may be adjusted against the tax payable according to the return required to be filed in the year in which the registration is granted or in the succeeding year. The amount of deposit in excess of the amount due from him, by way of tax, interest or penalty, if any, shall be refunded as provided in section 50 or, as the case may be, section 51.]”
2. This sub-section inserted by Mah. Act No.XV of 2011 dated 21st April 2011 w.e.f. 1st May 2011
3. This Portion was substituted by Mah. Act No. XIV of 2005, dated the 31st March, 2005 w.e.f. 1.4.2005.
4. These words were deleted by Mah. Act No. XIV of 2005, dated the 31st March, 2005 w.e.f. 1.4.2005.
5. These words were deleted for the words “ or the place of such business is changed to a different local area” by Mah. Act No. XXXII of 2006, dt. 5.8.2006 w.e.f. 20.6.2006.
6. This “Proviso” was added by Mah. Act No. XXV of 2007, dt. 6.8.2007 w.e.f. 15.8.2007. as per Notification No. VAT.1507/CR-57/Taxation-1, dt. 10.8.2007. s.8(2)(a).
7. These words were substituted for words “Provided further that” by Mah. Act No. XXV of 2007, dt. 6.8.2007 w.e.f. 15.8.2007 as per Notification No. VAT.1507/CR-57/Taxation-1, dt. 10.8.2007. s.8(2)(b).
8. The “Explanation” was deleted by Mah. Act No. XXXII of 2006, dt. 5.8.2006 w.e.f. 20.6.2006. s.40(b). (for Clarification refer Commissioner Tr. Cir. No. 23T of 2006, dt. 11.9.2006). Prior to deleted the “Explanation” was read as under :-
“Explanation.- For the purposes of this section, local area means the area to which the Post and Telegraph authorities have assigned a Postal Index Number (PIN).” |