Appeal maintainability turns on admitted tax alone where the appeal provision does not separately require accrued interest.

For an appeal under section 9(1)(a), the maintainability condition was satisfied by depositing the admitted tax where all returns for the assessment year had been filed. Although interest under section 8(1-C) is treated as part of the tax for liability purposes, that deeming rule did not create an additional precondition for entertaining the appeal unless the appeal provision itself so required. The article therefore explains that omission to deposit accrued interest would not defeat maintainability where the statute required only payment of the admitted tax.

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Issues: Whether, for an appeal under section 9(1)(a), the assessee was required to deposit only the admitted tax or the admitted tax together with interest that had accrued under section 8(1-C).

Analysis: Section 8(1-C) treats interest payable on unpaid tax as part of the tax, but the entertainability of the appeal had to be tested under section 9(1)(a). Where all returns for the assessment year had been filed, that provision required deposit of the amount of tax admitted in the returns or at any stage in the proceedings, whichever was greater. On that language, the statutory condition for filing the appeal was satisfied by payment of the admitted tax, and the omission to deposit interest did not defeat maintainability.

Conclusion: The assessee was not required to deposit the accrued interest for the appeal to be entertained, and the objection to maintainability failed.

Final Conclusion: The revision was held to be without merit and the order dismissing it was maintained.

Ratio Decidendi: For the purpose of an appeal-maintainability condition requiring deposit of admitted tax, the statute must be applied according to the specific appeal provision, and interest deemed to form part of tax under a separate charging provision does not become an additional precondition unless the appeal provision so states.

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