Belated accepted return is assessed under ordinary limitation, and State sales tax time limits govern Central sales tax assessments.

A belated return, if accepted by the assessing authority and acted upon with the dealer's books treated as correct and complete, is assessed under the ordinary assessment provision rather than as a best judgment assessment. The note states that the special provision for failure to file a return applies only to the contingencies specified in that provision and carries a different limitation period. It also explains that, under the Central Sales Tax Act, State sales tax law and procedural rules continue to govern assessment, so the State-law limitation period applies unless there is repugnancy. On that reasoning, the assessment was treated as time-barred and invalid.

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Issues: Whether an assessment made on the basis of a belated but accepted return is governed by section 14(1) of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957, or by section 14(3) of that Act, and whether the limitation prescribed by section 14(1) applies to assessments under the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956.

Analysis: A return filed after the prescribed date is still a return for the purposes of section 14(1) if it is accepted and acted upon by the assessing authority. Section 14(3) applies only where the dealer fails to submit a return before the prescribed date, or where the case otherwise falls within the special contingencies specified in that provision, and it contemplates a best judgment assessment within six years. Here, the return and the books of account were accepted as correct and complete, and the assessment was made on that basis, not as a best judgment assessment. The Court further held that section 9(2) of the Central Sales Tax Act makes the State sales tax law and procedural rules applicable to assessments under the Central Act, and there is no repugnancy between rule 14-A(5) and section 14(1). Accordingly, the limitation of four years under section 14(1) governs the assessment under the Central Sales Tax Act as well.

Conclusion: The assessment fell under section 14(1), not section 14(3), and was barred by limitation; the contention that rule 14-A(5) excluded the State-law limitation was rejected.

Final Conclusion: The revision succeeded, the assessment order was set aside, and the assessment was held invalid and unenforceable.

Ratio Decidendi: A belated return, if accepted as correct and complete and assessed on that basis, is an assessment under the ordinary assessment provision and not a best judgment assessment; where section 9(2) of the Central Sales Tax Act applies, the limitation period prescribed by the relevant State sales tax law continues to govern the assessment.

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