https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=340984 For compounding an offence under the Kerala Value Added Tax Act, the applicable compounding fee is the rate in force when the assessee elects to compound, because compounding is a voluntary statutory option and the levy is characterised as a fee rather than punitive penalty. Article 20(1) of the Constitution, which prevents enhanced punishment for past offences, does not govern such a fee-based liability. The earlier rate therefore does not apply merely because the underlying evasion occurred before the enhancement. en-us Mon, 25 Jul 2016 00:00:00 +0530 Fri, 31 Mar 2017 05:07:02 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=340984 For compounding an offence under the Kerala Value Added Tax Act, the applicable compounding fee is the rate in force when the assessee elects to compound, because compounding is a voluntary statutory option and the levy is characterised as a fee rather than punitive penalty. Article 20(1) of the Constitution, which prevents enhanced punishment for past offences, does not govern such a fee-based liability. The earlier rate therefore does not apply merely because the underlying evasion occurred before the enhancement. Case-Laws VAT and Sales Tax Mon, 25 Jul 2016 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=340984