Monthly returns can support a valid annual sales tax assessment even without separate month-by-month provisional assessments.

Sales tax assessment provisions were construed as a single statutory machinery built around monthly returns and final annual assessment. The use of the word "accepted" in the assessment rule did not change the substance of the process, and the absence of a separate provisional assessment for each month did not invalidate the yearly assessment. The rule permitting final assessment after the close of the year was treated as a continuation of the same scheme, not as dependent on prior month-by-month assessments. A construction that would allow an assessee to defeat tax liability by default was rejected, and the yearly assessment was held valid.

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Issues: Whether a final yearly assessment made on the basis of monthly returns, without a separate monthly provisional assessment in each month, was valid under the sales tax provisions and the assessment rules.

Analysis: The charging and procedural provisions were read together with the assessment rules to determine the scheme of monthly returns, provisional acceptance, best judgment assessment on default, and final annual assessment. The monthly return basis remained the foundation of assessment, and the use of the word "accepted" in the rule did not alter the substance of assessment. The rule permitting final assessment after the close of the year was construed as a continuation of the same statutory machinery and not as dependent on the prior completion of a separate monthly assessment in every month. The absence of a time limit for completing the monthly assessment, and the need to avoid a construction that would let an assessee defeat the tax liability by default, supported validity of the assessment.

Conclusion: The yearly assessment was valid even though no separate provisional assessment was made month by month, and the objection to its legality failed.

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