Declaration forms for pre-cancellation purchases remain available despite registration cancellation under the dealer scheme.

A dealer whose registration has been cancelled may still obtain declaration forms for purchases made before the cancellation date. Rule 27AA(1) was read as permitting an application by a registered dealer for pre-cancellation purchases, while rule 27A(4) was confined to the return of unused forms no longer required for those purchases. The scheme was treated as intended to support concessional tax treatment for lawful purchases and to prevent misuse after cancellation. As the purchases related to periods when the dealer was treated as registered for assessment purposes, refusal solely because the registration had been cancelled was not justified.

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Issues: Whether a registered dealer whose registration certificate has been cancelled can still be issued declaration forms for purchases made up to the date of cancellation of registration.

Analysis: The application for declaration forms concerned purchases relating to periods before cancellation of registration. The provisions governing declaration forms were read to mean that rule 27AA(1) permits application by a registered dealer for purchases made before cancellation, while rule 27A(4) requires return only of unused forms that are no longer required for such pre-cancellation purchases. The purpose of the scheme is to enable concessional tax treatment for lawful purchases by registered dealers and to prevent misuse after cancellation. The fact that the applicant was still being treated as a registered dealer for assessment purposes for the relevant periods supported entitlement to declaration forms for those periods.

Conclusion: A dealer whose registration has been cancelled remains entitled to declaration forms for purchases made before the date of cancellation, and refusal of the request on the ground of cancellation was not justified.

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