Commercial taxes officials abhorrent: Kerala High Court

 

“Taxman is today an abhorrent person for a valid reason. He is often seen as a person who arrives armed with the authority of law to take money away from the person who has  it. The state of affairs must change for an honest and efficient tax administration which can bring about substantial decline in litigation thus helping the public,” the court observed. 

 

“The assessing authority is completely mechanical. The time has come for the court to sound a note of caution to the tax administration in the state,” the court observed.

 

Justice A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar issued the directive while considering a petition against imposing fine without even issuing a notice to a trader based in Thodupuzha. 

 

The Commercial Taxes department imposed a penalty on K. Shamon  for the wrong self-assessment of the taxes. 

 

The court asked the authorities to comply with the procedures in the Kerala VAT Act while finalising the self-assessment of taxes submitted by the traders. 

 

The court also asked the state to issue appropriate circulars considering the observations of the court. 

 

The court said  that the instance of passing assessment orders without following procedures such as notice has become frequent in the recent times.