Penalty for late return not covered by self-assessment penalty where admitted tax was paid before filing.

Section 17A(3) of the Kerala Agricultural Income-tax Act, 1950 applies only where the admitted tax is not paid, or is paid only in part, under the self-assessment scheme; it does not extend to mere late filing of the return when the full admitted tax has already been paid before the return is furnished. The Act treats delayed returns separately through its own provisions on late filing and related penalties. The pending but undecided application for extension of time under section 65 was also relevant on the facts. On this reasoning, the penalty orders were unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether penalty under section 17A(3) of the Kerala Agricultural Income-tax Act, 1950 can be levied when the assessee pays the admitted tax before filing the return but files the return after the due date, and whether the Revenue can invoke that provision despite the pending application for extension of time under section 65.

Analysis: Section 17A was introduced as a self-assessment provision requiring payment of the admitted tax before filing the return and proof of such payment with the return. The penal consequence in sub-section (3) is confined to failure to pay the tax or part thereof in accordance with sub-section (1). Delayed filing of the return is separately dealt with in the Act, particularly through the provisions governing late returns, fine, prosecution, and other penalties. The provision does not create a penalty for mere late filing where the admitted tax has been paid in full before the return is furnished. The pending application for extension of time, on which no order was passed, also precluded penal action on the facts of the case.

Conclusion: Penalty under section 17A(3) was not exigible on the facts, and the impugned orders imposing and confirming the penalty were unsustainable.

Ratio Decidendi: Section 17A(3) authorises penalty only for non-payment or part-payment of admitted tax under the self-assessment scheme and does not extend to late filing of the return where the admitted tax has been paid before filing.

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