32. Payment of tax, etc.:-
(1) Tax shall be paid in the manner herein provided, and at such intervals as may be prescribed.
(2) A registered dealer furnishing returns as required 1[by section 20] shall pay into the Government treasury, in such manner and at such intervals as may be prescribed, the amount of tax due from him for the period covered by a return which he is required to file along with the amount of interest and any other sum payable by him.
(3) A registered dealer furnishing a revised return in accordance with 2[sub-section (4)] of section 20, when the revised return shows that a larger amount of tax than, the tax already paid, is payable, shall first pay into the Government treasury the extra amount of tax.
(4) (a) (i) The amount of tax due where the return or revised return has been furnished without full payment thereof shall be paid forthwith.
(ii) The amount of tax which it becomes necessary to pay on account of the reduction in set-off because of any contingency specified in the rules, shall be paid at the time prescribed for making payment of tax for the period in which such contingency occurs.
(b) (i) The amount of tax due as per any order passed under any provision of this Act, for any period, less any sum already paid in respect of the said period; and
(ii) the amount of interest or penalty or both, if any, levied under any provision of this Act; and
(iii) the sum, if any, forfeited and the amount of fine, if any, imposed under the Act or rules; and
(iv) the amount of tax, penalty and interest demanded in the context of excess availment of incentives or availment of incentives not due; and
(v) any other amount due under this Act,
shall be paid by the person or dealer or the person liable therefor into the Government treasury within thirty days from the date of service of the notice issued by the Commissioner in respect thereof:
Provided that, the Commissioner may, in respect of any particular dealer or person, and for reasons to the recorded in writing, allow him to pay the tax, penalty, interest or the sum forfeited, by installments but the grant of installment to pay tax shall be without prejudice to the other provisions of this Act including levy of penalty, or interest, or both.
(5) Any tax, penalty, interest, fine or sum forfeited, unpaid after the service of notice under sub-section (4), or any installment not duly paid or any amount due or payable under this Act, shall be recoverable as an arrears of land revenue.
(6) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act or in any other law for the time being in force or in any contract, where any sum collected by a person by way of tax in contravention of section 60, is forfeited under section 29 and is recovered from him, such payment or recovery shall discharge him of the liability to refund the sum to the person from whom it was so collected. A refund of such sum or any part thereof can be claimed from the Commissioner by the person from whom it was realised by way of tax, provided such person has not resold the goods within a period of two years from the date of purchase and an application in writing in the prescribed form is made to the Commissioner, within two years from the date of the order of forfeiture. For this purpose, the Commissioner may send intimation in the prescribed form to such of the said purchasers whose names and addresses are available in the records of the person who has collected any sum in contravention of section 60. On receipt of such application, the Commissioner shall hold such inquiry as he deems fit, and if the applicant proves to the satisfaction of the Commissioner that the goods are not resold by him as aforesaid and if the Commissioner is satisfied that the claim is valid and admissible and that the amount so claimed as refund was actually paid in Government treasury or recovered and no set-off or refund in respect of that amount was granted, he shall refund the sum or any part thereof, which is found due to the person concerned.
(7) (i) There shall be established a Fund to be called “the Maharashtra Consumer Protection and Guidance Fund” (hereinafter, in this section, referred to as “the Fund”). From the amounts forfeited and recovered except for the amounts refunded as aforesaid to the purchasers and except for the amounts in respect of which a set-off or refund is granted, the remaining amount shall, after deducting the expenses of collection and recovery as determined by the State Government, under appropriation duly made by law in this behalf, be entered into, and transferred to, that Fund.
(ii) No sum from the Fund shall be paid or applied for any purpose other than the one specified in clause (iii).
(iii) The Fund shall be administered in the prescribed manner; and the amount in the Fund shall be utilised for meeting the expenses of any activities related to consumer protection and guidance as the State Government may direct, and for giving grant in the prescribed manner to any voluntary consumer organisation, society, association, body or institution engaged in providing for the better protection of the interests of the consumers and having such qualifications as may be prescribed.
(8) (a) Any dealer or person may apply to the Commissioner in the prescribed form for a clearance certificate and thereupon the Commissioner may, on the basis of the record, issue a certificate in the prescribed form within a period of fifteen days from the date of receipt of the application, in so far as he may, stating therein, the periods for which the returns have been filed or, as the case may be, have not been filed, assessments have been made, the status of pending proceedings, if any, and the amounts payable by the applicants, if any.
(b) The Commissioner may, every year on the basis of the record, issue to every registered dealer a certificate regarding the amounts payable by him, as on the 1st April of that year, stating therein the periods for which returns have not been filed, the period wise outstanding amounts of tax, penalty, interest and sum forfeited payable by the dealer including the amounts for which the due date of payment is not yet over, the amounts, the recovery of which has been stayed and the amounts under installment. The certificate shall in so far as it may, be issued immediately after the 1st of April every year.
(c) Nothing in the certificates issued under this sub-section shall be a bar on the Commissioner to initiate or continue any proceedings including recovery proceedings, if it is subsequently found that the certificates were issued on the basis of incomplete or erroneous information.
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1 These words, brackets and figures were substituted by Mah. Act No. XIV of 2005, dated the 31st March, 2005 w.e.f. 1.4.2005.
2 These words, brackets and figures were substituted by Mah. Act No. XIV of 2005, dated the 31st March, 2005 w.e.f. 1.4.2005. |