Time-barred assessment does not create refund rights where tax liability arose from taxable sales and return-based payment discharged it.

Tax liability arises from the sale of taxable goods, not from the assessment itself, and assessment only quantifies an already existing statutory obligation. A time-barred assessment is therefore unenforceable, but it does not extinguish the dealer's underlying liability to pay tax on taxable transactions. Payment made in accordance with the dealer's return under section 10(3) operates as a valid discharge of that liability. Section 11(1) does not treat the absence or invalidity of a later assessment as converting such payment into an excess collection refundable to the dealer. Refund is not available merely because the subsequent assessments were barred by limitation.

---

---

Issues: Whether invalidity of an assessment on the ground of limitation entitles a dealer to refund of tax already paid under section 10(3) of the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941.

Analysis: The taxable event is the sale of taxable goods and not the assessment. Assessment only quantifies tax liability and does not create the liability itself. Even if an assessment is time-barred and therefore unenforceable, the dealer's underlying statutory obligation to pay tax on taxable transactions remains in force. A payment made in accordance with the dealer's return under section 10(3) is a valid discharge of that liability, and section 11(1) does not indicate that the absence or invalidity of assessment converts such payment into an excess collection refundable to the dealer.

Conclusion: The dealer is not entitled to refund merely because the subsequent assessments were barred by limitation.

---