Audit report filing period must expire before adverse assessment, and the dealer must be given a hearing.

Where a fiscal statute fixes a time limit for filing an audit report, the assessing authority must await expiry of that period before treating the dealer as in default. Under Section 63-A of the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act, 2006 and Rule 16-A, Form WW could be filed within nine months from the end of the year, so premature finalisation of the assessment was not justified. The dealer was also entitled to be heard before adverse action was taken, especially where objections had been raised and the filing period had not yet expired.

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Issues: Whether the assessment order could be sustained when passed before expiry of the period available for filing the audit report in Form WW under Section 63-A read with Rule 16-A.

Analysis: Section 63-A of the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act, 2006 obliges the dealer to get the accounts audited and submit the audit report within the prescribed period, and Rule 16-A of the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Rules, 2007 permits filing of the audit report in Form WW within nine months from the end of the year. The scheme of the provision indicates that the assessing authority is required to wait until the prescribed period expires before proceeding on the footing of default. Since the dealer asserted that the period for filing Form WW had not yet run out and that objections had been submitted, the matter called for an opportunity before the authority rather than immediate finalisation of the assessment.

Conclusion: The assessment could not be finalised before expiry of the prescribed period, and the petitioner was entitled to be heard before the authority proceeds further.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition was disposed of by directing the petitioner to appear before the authority, make submissions, and have the matter decided on merits within the stipulated time.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a fiscal statute prescribes a specific time for filing an audit report, the assessing authority must await expiry of that period and afford a reasonable opportunity before taking adverse action for default.

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