Mandatory tax deposit with return means certificate of posting alone cannot establish valid and timely filing.

Where the sales tax rules required a return to be filed within time and to be accompanied by proof of deposit of the full tax due, a return sent by post under certificate of posting was not treated as valid filing if that receipt was missing. Certificate of posting proved only that a cover was posted; it did not establish that a legally complete return was furnished. As the tax was deposited only after the alleged posting date, compliance with the statute and rules was not made out, and the question whether the cover reached the authority became irrelevant. Penalty for delayed filing was therefore justified.

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Issues: Whether a sales tax return sent by post under certificate of posting could be treated as validly filed in time when it was not accompanied by proof of deposit of the full tax due, and whether penalty for delayed filing was therefore leviable.

Analysis: The statutory scheme required the return to be furnished within the prescribed time and to be accompanied by a receipt showing deposit of the full tax due on the basis of the return. The rules permitted presentation personally or by post, but they also provided that if the return was not accompanied by the required tax receipt, the assessing authority was not bound to take cognizance of it. The certificate of posting could at best show posting of a cover and did not establish that a valid return, complete in law, had been filed. Since the tax for the relevant quarter was deposited only after the alleged posting date, the return could not be treated as compliant with the Act and Rules, and the question whether the cover reached the authority became immaterial.

Conclusion: The return was not validly filed in time, and the penalty for delayed filing was rightly imposed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the statute makes deposit of the tax due an essential accompaniment to the return, posting of the return by certificate of posting does not amount to valid filing unless the return is legally complete and compliant with the prescribed requirements.

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