Deemed assessment under Tamil Nadu VAT law required revision proceedings, not reassessment under the old regime.

The Madras HC noted that assessments under the Central Sales Tax Act are governed through Section 9(2) of that Act, and that the amendment to Section 22(2) of the Tamil Nadu VAT Act created deemed assessment for the relevant years from 30.06.2012. On that footing, reassessment could not continue under the earlier regime; the proper course was to proceed under Section 27 of the Tamil Nadu VAT Act to revise the deemed assessment. Although the assessee had not responded to notices or furnished Form C, that omission did not cure the jurisdictional defect in the manner in which the orders were passed, and the reassessment orders were quashed.

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Issues: Whether reassessment orders passed under the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 could stand when, by virtue of the amendment to Section 22(2) of the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act, 2006, the relevant assessments were deemed to have been completed on 30.06.2012 and the proper course was to proceed under Section 27 of the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act, 2006.

Analysis: The local sales tax enactment applies to assessments under the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 through Section 9(2) of that Act. Once the amendment to Section 22(2) of the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act, 2006 introduced deemed assessment for the relevant assessment years, the earlier notices and the impugned orders could not proceed as if the old assessment regime continued. The Court accepted that the respondent's proper jurisdiction was to invoke Section 27 of the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act, 2006 to revise the deemed assessment. The Court also found no acceptable explanation for the petitioner's failure to respond to the notices or furnish Form C, but that did not cure the jurisdictional defect in the form in which the impugned orders were passed.

Conclusion: The reassessment orders were quashed for being passed on an incorrect jurisdictional basis, and the matter was directed to proceed as notice under Section 27 of the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act, 2006 with liberty to the petitioner to reply.

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