Late production of declaration forms may be accepted on sufficient cause where the taxpayer's explanation is undisputed.

Declaration forms in prescribed form may be accepted at the appellate or Tribunal stage where the assessee shows sufficient cause for not producing them earlier. The sales tax framework does not create an absolute bar on late production of such forms, and an appellate forum may receive them if the explanation is satisfactory. Here, the assessee's explanation that the forms were received only after the first appeal hearing had concluded was not disputed, so insisting on additional documentary proof before accepting the forms was unwarranted. The refusal to accept the forms was therefore not justified, and the matter was remitted for consideration of the forms on merits.

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Issues: Whether declaration forms in prescribed forms, produced for the first time before the Tribunal, could be accepted on the explanation that they were received only after the hearing before the first appellate authority had closed, and whether the Tribunal was justified in refusing them for want of further supporting documentary proof.

Analysis: The controversy concerned claim to concessional tax treatment on the strength of declaration forms and the filing of such forms at the appellate stage. The governing approach under the sales tax law permits receipt of such documents at the appellate stage where the assessee shows sufficient cause for not producing them earlier. Earlier decisions recognised that there is no absolute bar against production of declaration forms before the appellate authority or the Tribunal, and that the appellate forum may accept them where a satisfactory explanation is furnished. The petitioner's explanation was that the forms had been received only after the first appeal hearing had concluded, and that explanation was not disputed by the Revenue. In those circumstances, insistence on additional documentary proof as a precondition for receipt of the forms was unwarranted.

Conclusion: The refusal to accept the declaration forms was not justified. The questions were answered in favour of the assessee and against the Revenue, and the matter was remitted to the Tribunal for examination of the declaration forms on merits.

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