Interest on differential sales tax was not leviable where final billing tax was promptly deposited and no evasion was shown.

Interest on differential sales tax arising from final billing was held not leviable where the tax was collected at the time of final bills, deposited promptly with revised returns, and the record showed no unpaid tax retained from provisional bills or any intention to evade payment. The operative principle is that interest cannot be imposed merely because the final tax differs from the provisional amount when the liability is discharged soon after crystallisation and no avoidance element is established.

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Issues: Whether interest was leviable on the differential sales tax collected on the final bills and deposited after the revised returns were filed.

Analysis: The assessment related only to the interest component arising from a difference between the provisional bills and the final bills. The differential tax was collected when the final bills were prepared and was deposited soon thereafter along with revised returns. The material on record did not show that the tax already collected in the provisional bills had remained unpaid, nor was there any basis to infer an intention to evade or avoid payment of tax. On these facts, the levy of interest was not justified.

Conclusion: The issue was decided in favour of the assessee, and the demand of interest was not sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: Where differential tax arising from final billing is promptly deposited on realization and there is no intention to evade tax, interest is not leviable merely because the final amount differed from the provisional amount.

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