Return filing notice under local entry tax law was not time-barred; penalty challenge was premature.

The Kerala Tax on Entry of Goods into Local Areas Act, 1994 requires liable persons to file returns, with assessment following acceptance of the return or, if the return is incorrect or incomplete, after notice under the assessment provisions. Section 8(5) limits assessment orders under those provisions to three years from the last date for filing the return, after which the return is deemed accepted as correct and complete; section 9 separately permits reassessment within five years only after an assessment has already been made. On that scheme, the notice to file a return was not treated as time-barred. The penalty objection was also premature because no penalty order had yet been passed.

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Issues: Whether the notice requiring filing of return under the Kerala Tax on Entry of Goods into Local Areas Act, 1994 was barred by limitation under the assessment and reassessment provisions, and whether the challenge to proposed penalty was premature.

Analysis: The statutory scheme requires every liable person to furnish returns under section 7(1). Where a return is filed, assessment may follow under section 8(2) on acceptance of the return, or under sections 8(3) and 8(4) after notice if the return is found incorrect or incomplete. Section 8(5) limits the making of an assessment order under sections 8(3) and 8(4) to three years from the last date for filing returns, failing which the filed return is deemed accepted as correct and complete. Section 9 separately permits reassessment within five years only after an assessment has already been made. On that scheme, the impugned notice was not liable to be struck down as time-barred. The request to examine penalty under section 15 was not fit for adjudication at that stage because the notice was only for filing a return and no penalty order had yet been made.

Conclusion: The limitation challenge to the notice failed. The penalty objection was premature, and the petitioner was left to raise the plea of reasonable cause if penalty proceedings were initiated, with time extended to file the return as directed.

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