Tax liability arises on taxable sales, not only on assessment, and anti-evasion action is not barred by lack of prior assessment.

Under the West Bengal Sales Tax Act, 1994, a dealer's liability to pay tax arises from the taxable sale itself and is not postponed until assessment. The obligation to register, file returns and pay tax operates independently of the later assessment machinery, and section 66 is an anti-evasion provision that does not fix liability or quantify tax. Accordingly, the absence of a prior assessment does not by itself invalidate search and seizure action under section 66 where the dealer has failed to comply with statutory tax obligations.

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Issues: Whether a dealer's liability to pay tax under the West Bengal Sales Tax Act, 1994 arises only after assessment, so as to render search and seizure under section 66 invalid in the absence of prior assessment.

Analysis: The scheme of the Act showed that tax liability could arise at the stage when a dealer makes taxable sales, including the first sale of specified goods under section 10, and that such liability was independent of the later assessment machinery under sections 45 and 46. The obligation to file returns and pay tax under section 30 was not dependent on a prior assessment order. Section 66 was intended to deal with tax evaders and was not a provision for fixing liability or quantifying tax. Therefore, the absence of prior assessment did not bar action under section 66 when the dealer had not complied with the statutory obligations to register, file returns, or pay tax.

Conclusion: The dealer's tax liability was not postponed until assessment, and the search and seizure under section 66 could not be treated as illegal for want of prior assessment.

Final Conclusion: The tribunal's order was set aside and the writ petition succeeded, leaving the taxing authority free to proceed on the basis of the impugned notice.

Ratio Decidendi: Under the Act, a dealer's liability to pay sales tax arises from the taxable transaction and exists independently of assessment, and action under the anti-evasion provision is not conditioned upon prior assessment or quantified demand.

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