Late claim for statutory sales tax deduction cannot be introduced for the first time in revision, leaving the assessment undisturbed.

A statutory deduction under Section 3B(2)(a) of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act could not be raised for the first time in tax case revision where the assessee had never claimed it before the assessing authority, first appellate authority, or Tribunal. The assessee had instead proceeded only under Section 3B(2)(e) on a flat-rate basis for dyeing contracts, and no alternate proportionate deduction plea had been made earlier. The revisional challenge therefore failed, and the assessments and Tribunal view were left undisturbed.

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Issues: Whether the assessee could, for the first time in tax case revisions, claim deduction under Section 3B(2)(a) of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 in respect of goods used in works contract; and whether the revisions could succeed on the basis of a proportionate deduction claim never raised before the authorities below.

Analysis: The claim for deduction under Section 3B(2)(a) was not made before the assessing authority, the first appellate authority, or the Tribunal. The assessee had consciously proceeded on a different basis and had claimed deduction only under Section 3B(2)(e) at the flat rate applicable to dyeing contracts. The deduction under clause (a) is a specific statutory claim and could not be introduced for the first time at the revisional stage, especially when no alternate plea had been raised earlier. The earlier relief granted for different assessment years on the basis of specific claims could not assist the assessee in the absence of a comparable plea in these assessments.

Conclusion: The assessee was not entitled to raise the deduction claim under Section 3B(2)(a) for the first time in revision, and the challenge to the assessments failed.

Final Conclusion: The revisions were rejected and the substantial questions of law were answered against the assessee, leaving the assessment and the Tribunal's view undisturbed.

Ratio Decidendi: A statutory deduction that was never claimed before the fact-finding authorities cannot ordinarily be introduced for the first time in revisional proceedings.

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