Rejection of refund claim - finalization of provisional...

Rejection of refund claim - finalization of provisional assessment or not - A provisional assessment will always remain as a provisional one. There is no shortcut as a deemed finalization since the authorities can only collect the tax/duty as permissible under law. Hence, the non-finalization of the provisional assessment has lead to a situation where the duty paid by the unsuspecting assessee has been retained in full without following the process of law since it is observed that a provisional assessment will not automatically become final but the same has to be taken to its logical conclusion by passing a final order. - AT