Election of a separate assessment scheme bars later switch to compounding where the rules confine that option to another procedure.

An assessee that elected assessment under rule 18 of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Rules, 1959 and filed monthly A-2 returns could not later invoke rule 15(4-B) to claim assessment under section 7. The statutory schemes were held to be distinct: rule 15 applied to annual return-based assessment and the compounded assessment option, while rule 18 operated as a separate monthly return procedure for dealers who had not opted for section 7. By proceeding under rule 18, the assessee was treated as having waived the section 7 option, and the reference in rule 15(4-B) was confined to the rule 15 scheme. The rule 18 assessment was therefore upheld.

---

---

Issues: Whether an assessee who had opted for assessment under rule 18 of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Rules, 1959 and filed monthly returns in form A-2 could later claim assessment under section 7 of the Act by invoking rule 15(4-B).

Analysis: The rules provided two distinct assessment methods. Rule 15 governed annual return-based assessment and permitted an eligible dealer to opt for compounded assessment under section 7, including a later option under rule 15(4-B) before final assessment, but that provision was held to operate within the rule 15 scheme. Rule 18, by contrast, was a separate monthly return scheme for dealers who had not opted for section 7. By electing rule 18 and submitting A-2 returns, the assessee was treated as having waived the section 7 option. The reference in rule 15(4-B) to submitting returns and making final assessment was construed as referring to returns and assessments under rule 15, not rule 18.

Conclusion: The assessee who had elected assessment under rule 18 was not entitled to switch to compounding under section 7 at the stage of assessment under rule 18.

Final Conclusion: The Tribunal's direction to redo the assessment under section 7 was unsustainable, and the assessment as made under the rule 18 procedure stood restored in favour of the Revenue.

Ratio Decidendi: An assessee who has chosen a distinct statutory assessment scheme and acted under it cannot later invoke an option embedded in a different scheme when the language and structure of the rules confine that option to the latter scheme.

---