Pre-deposit for tax appeals applies only to quantified disputes, not to endorsements refusing Form-H acceptance.

An appellate remedy under Section 31(1) is available against any order or proceeding and is not confined to an assessment order. The 12.5% pre-deposit requirement applies only where the appeal challenges a quantified tax dispute involving assessed tax and admitted tax for the relevant period. An endorsement merely declining to accept Form-H does not itself assess or quantify tax, so insisting on pre-deposit as a condition for maintaining the appeal was improper. The appellate authority was therefore not justified in rejecting the appeal on that ground, and the appeal was to be entertained without requiring such payment.

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Issues: Whether an appeal against an endorsement refusing to accept Form-H could be rejected for non-payment of 12.5% of the disputed tax.

Analysis: The appellate remedy under Section 31(1) is available against any order or proceeding, and is not confined to an assessment order alone. The requirement of producing proof of payment of 12.5% of the difference between assessed tax and admitted tax applies where the appeal concerns tax for the relevant tax period and the disputed assessment itself. Here, the challenge was to an endorsement declining to accept Form-H, not to the assessment demand or quantification of tax. Since no tax was quantified under the endorsement, insisting on pre-deposit as a condition for entertaining the appeal was held to be improper.

Conclusion: The appellate authority was not justified in rejecting the appeal for want of payment of 12.5% of the disputed tax, and the appeal was directed to be entertained without such insistence.

Ratio Decidendi: The pre-deposit requirement under the appellate provision applies only to appeals against quantified tax disputes and not to an appeal challenging an endorsement that does not itself assess or quantify tax.

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