In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 23 of the Chhattisgarh Settlement of Arrears of Tax, Interest and Penalty Act, 2023 (No. 10 of 2023), the State Government, hereby, makes the following rules for settlement of arrears of tax, interest and penally which were levied, payable or imposed under said Act, namely:-

RULES

CHAPTER-I

1. Short title and commencement.-

(1) These rules may be called Chhattisgarh Settlement of Arrears of Tax, Interest and Penalty Rules, 2023.

(2) They shall come into force from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.

2. Definitions.-

(1) In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires,-

(a) 'Act' means the Chhattisgarh Settlement of Arrears of Tax, Interest and Penalty Act, 2023 (No. 10 of 2023);

(b) 'Form' means the form appended to these rules.

(2) All other words and expressions used in these rules but not specifically defined shall have the same meaning as defined thereto under the Act.

CHAPTER-II

3. Constitution of designated committee.-

(1) A designated committee shall be constituted by the Commissioner.

(2) Designated committee shall have-

(a) where the amount of arrears is equal to or more than 10 Crore Rupees, Additional Commissioner of Commercial Tax and one such officer not below the rank of Deputy Commissioner as members;

(b) where the amount of arrears is less than 10 Crore Rupees, Deputy Commissioner of Commercial Tax and one such officer not below the rank of Assistant Commissioner of commercial tax as members;

(c) where the amount of arrears is not more than 2 Crore Rupees, Assistant Commissioner of Commercial Tax and one such officer not below the rank of Commercial tax officer as members;

(d) where the amount of arrears is not more than 50 lakhs Rupees, Commercial Tax Officer and one such officer not below the rank of Assistant commercial tax officer as members;

(e) where the amount of arrears is not more than 5 lakhs Rupees, Assistant Commercial Tax Officer and one Commercial tax inspector as members;

Explanation- for the purpose of this rule "amount of arrears" means amount of arrears in respect of any person or dealer for one financial year or part thereof under the Relevant Act.

(3) The Commissioner may nominate a senior member as the Chairman of the designated committee.

(4) The Commissioner shall have power to nominate such other officers in the committee constituted under sub-rule (1), as he deems fit, to assist the members of the designated committee.

(5) The Commissioner may constitute such number of designated committee as he may deem fit.

CHAPTER-III

4. Eligibility for settlement.-

(1) Persons filing application under Section 6 of the Act shall be eligible to apply for the settlement of arrears with interest on the date of application with respect to sub-section (2) of Section 5 of the Act:

Provided that, calculation of above mentioned interest shall be according to provisions of the Relevant Act and this shall be added in calculating arrears of interest.

(2) Persons who have availed benefit of the Chhattisgarh Vanijyik Kar (Bakaya Rashi) Sarai Samadhan Yojna, 2010 shall be eligible for settlement under this Act only for the arrears which are related to periods after the said yojna.

5. Form and manner of Application.-

(1) The application may be filed by the applicant in Form CSA-1, before the Commercial Tax Officer of such circle under which territorial jurisdiction applicant is or was registered or liable to be registered, during the period prescribed by the Government through Notification.

(2) On receipt of the application Form, an acknowledgement shall be given to the applicant by the Commercial Tax Officer in Form CSA-1 A.

(3) A separate application shall be filed for each assessment year, relevant Act-wise and Year-wise.

Explanation- for the purpose of this rule "year" means the financial year commencing on the 1st day of April and ending on the following 31st day of March and includes part of the year.

(4) Every application shall have the following documents as enclosures:-

(i) An authenticated copy of assessment or reassessment or penalty or other orders passed in statutory proceedings; and

(ii) An authenticated copy of Notice of demand issued for payment or any sum due under the Relevant Act; and

(iii) Certified copy of the challan, if any amount has been deposited or recovered earlier in pursuance of the demand notice

(iv) Authenticated copy of proof of withdrawal of application of appeal or revision or writ petition or reference, as the case may be, under the relevant Act, pending before Supreme Court or High Court or Commercial Tax Tribunal or Chhattisgarh Commercial Tax Department or Commissioner or Appellate Authority; and

(v) Certified copy of part payment in respect of arrears, if any, made before the application.

(vi) An Affidavit swearing on oath that the particulars of Form CSA-1 are true to the best of his knowledge and faith; and

(vii) Any other document as the Commissioner may by written order specify.

(5) No fee shall be payable for submission of the application under the Act.

(6) The application shall be signed by the proprietor of the business or in the case of a firm or partnership by a partner or director of the firm or in the case of a Hindu undivided family business by the manager or karta of the Hindu undivided family or in the case of a company incorporated or deemed to be incorporated under the Companies Act, 2013 (No. 18 of 2013), or any other law for the time being in force by the Principal Officer managing the business or in case of a society, club or association by the President or Secretary responsible for the management of such society, club or association or in the case of the Central or a State Government or any of their departments, by the officer-in-charge of the business of selling or supplying or distributing goods and in the case of a dealer who resides outside the State but who has place of business in the State, by his authorized representative.

(7) The application made under sub-rule (1) shall be made only in the Form prescribed under this rule.

(8) The time period for submission of application shall be notified by the Government separately.

CHAPTER-IV

6. Procedure Adopted for issuance of settlement order by the Designated Committee.-

(1) The Commercial Tax Officer, after receipt of the application, shall transfer the application along with the relevant documents of the case to appropriate designated committee within 15 days of receipt of such application:

Provided that, where on receipt of the application from the commercial tax officer the Designated committee is of the opinion that such application should be considered by any other Designated Committee, such case shall be transferred by the Designated Committee to such other appropriate Designated Committee and applicant shall be informed thereof.

(2) On receipt of such application, the designated committee shall examine the application based on the particulars furnished by the applicant as well as the records available with the Department.

(3) In case any discrepancy found in the application, the designated committee shall issue a notice to provide an opportunity of hearing in Form CSA-2, within 45 days of receipt of such application.

(4) Applicant himself or his legal representative or authorized representative, may appear before the designated committee for personal hearing under this rule.

(5) The applicant may, within 7 days of receipt of such notice, file reply with regard to the discrepancies specified therein.

7. Issue of Settlement Order.-

(1) The designated committee shall examine the reply received from the applicant in respect of the discrepancies mentioned in the notice and if the replies found appropriate, the designated committee shall issue the settlement order specifying the settlement amount in Form CSA-3, within 90 days from the date of receipt of the application. In respect of discrepancies mentioned in the notice, if the response of the applicant is not found appropriate or if the response is not received from the applicant by the date mentioned in the notice, the designated committee shall dismiss the case by an order within 90 days of receipt of such application.

(2) If no discrepancy is found then, the designated Committee after verification of the application and within 90 days of receipt of such application, issue an Order of Settlement in Form CSA-3, specifying settlement amount therein:

Provided that, if the designated committee, after due verification of the particulars of application Form, finds the case ineligible, it shall dismiss the case by an order within 90 days of receipt of such application.

CHAPTER-V

8. Determination of Settlement amount.-

The designated committee shall after deducting the amount of relief as per Schedule-A of the Act from the arrears as defined in the Act, calculate rest amount as settlement amount:

Provided that, in such cases where part payment of arrears has been done before coming into force of the Act then, the settlement amount shall be calculated after adjustment of the payment made earlier from the amount reached at after deducting the amount of relief as per Schedule-A of the Act.

9. Adjustment of any payment made under the Relevant Acts and settlement of arrears of tax, interest and penalty, if any.-

(1) Any payment made on or before the date of coming into force of the Act shall be adjusted against such arrears of tax, interest and penalty respectively in the same proportion in which they constitute the arrears.

(2) After adjustment of payment made earlier as per sub-rule (1) excess amount, if any shall not be allowed to be refunded.

(3) Subject to the proviso to Section 6 of the Act, the arrears relating to statutory orders passed after the last date for submission of application under these rules, shall not be settled.

(4) Payment of the settlement amount under these rules shall not be allowed in installment.

10. Form and manner of making the payment.-

The applicant shall pay the settlement amount for each case separately in the manner and challan form prescribed under the Relevant Acts and Rules made thereunder within 15 days from the receipt of settlement order.

11. Issue of Settlement Certificate.-

The designated committee on being satisfied that the applicant has paid in full the settlement amount as determined by it and on submission of proof of payment and proof of withdrawal of appeal or writ petition, as the case may be, shall issue a settlement certificate in Form CSA-4, within 30 days of production of such proof.

CHAPTER-VI

12. Transfer of Proceedings.-

(1) The commissioner may transfer any proceeding under these rules from one designated committee constituted under rule 3 to another such competent designated committee and intimation about the transfer of any such proceeding or proceedings shall be sent to the applicant.

(2) Where any proceeding or proceedings is transferred, the designated committee to whom such proceeding is transferred shall proceed to disposed off, as if it had been initiated by the said designated committee. Such transfer shall not render necessary the reissue of any notice already issued before the transfer.

CHAPTER-VII

13. Appeal.-

An appeal under Section 14 of the Act, may be filed before the Commissioner, Commercial Tax against the order of Designated Committee within 30 days from receipt of the settlement order in Form CSA-5.

By order and in the name of the Governor of Chhattisgarh,
HIM SHIKHAR GUPTA, Secretary.

FORM-CSA-1

[See rule 5(1)]

Form of Application under Section 6 of the Chhattisgarh Tax, Interest and Penalty

Settlement Act, 2023

1. Name of the Dealer / Firm ..................................................

2. Tin No./Registration No. ..................................................

3. Address ..................................................

4. Mobile No. ..................................................

5. Email Id ..................................................

6. PAN (Permanent Account Number) ..................................................

7. Relevant Act...............Year..............Case No...............Date of Order

8. Details of Arrears (Whichever is applicable)

9. Details of appeal pending before the Appellate Authority/ the Tribunal /the High Court/the Supreme Court:-

(A) Appeal/ Revision/ Writ/ Reference pending before the Appellate Authority/ Tribunal I High Court/ Supreme Court:-

(B) Dealers Availing Instalment Benefit sub-section (7) of Section 25 of the Chhattisgarh Value Added Tax Act, 2005 (No. 2 of 2005).

(C) Details of payment of Arrears in respect of interim order of any court or appeal or any other circumstances

10. Annexure:-

AFFIDAVIT

I......................, S/o........................Age........

Status in Firm.........do hereby, solemnly declare that, I have read and understood completely the Chhattisgarh Settlement of Arrears of Tax, Interest and Penalty Act, 2023 and agree to abide by the provisions and conditions of the Chhattisgarh Settlement of Arrears of Tax, Interest and Penalty Act, 2023 and Chhattisgarh Settlement of Arrears of Tax, Interest and Penalty Rules, 2023 and I will follow then and the information given in this application is correct and complete and the amount of tax dues and other particulars shown in Form CSA-1, Serial Number 01 to 10 are truly stated and I also declare that if any information given in this application Form CSA-1 found incorrect after the settlement order then the department has right to take actions under Act.

I, shall commit to pay the amount as may be determined by the designated committee under the Chhattisgarh Settlement of Arrears of Tax, Interest and Penalty Act, 2023.

FORM-CSA-1A

[See rule 5(2)]

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Received Form CSA-1 from.................(Name of the Dealer/Firm) Tax Identification Number ............. (TIN) Received for the arrears for .........(Period) And..............(Relevant Act) for total outstanding amount of Rs.............................................along with following documents attached paging from No. 01 to.as Circle Office Inward Number.......Dated..............

Name and Signature of receiving clerk,

Date and Office Stamp

FORM-CSA-2

[See rule 6(3)]

To,

Name of Applicant............................

Address......................................

TIN .........................................

Whereas, the designated committee has found discrepancy in the Application dated .......... furnished by you for the purpose of settlement of arrears, in respect of the period .............. To Relevant Act...................................................

Now therefore, you hereby, directed to produce the following documents:-

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

Further, you are hereby, directed to attend in person before the designated committee for being heard in this regard and to produce or cause to be produced the documents in respect of the above period and on any evidence on which you rely in support of your application at .................... (place) ................ (time) on ............. (date).

FORM-CSA-3

[See rule 7]

(Order of settlement under Section 8)

ORDER OF SETTLEMENT

Name of the Dealer / Firm ............................................................

Tin No. ............................................................

Address ............................................................

............................................................

Mobile No. ............................................................

Email Id ............................................................

PAN ............................................................

Relevant Act..............Year ....................Case No..................Date of Order...................

Amount of Arrears:-

The designated Committee hereby, directs you to pay.....(in figures)........(in words).............on or before dated........in governments treasury in the procedure mentioned under Section 12 or the said Act and produce proof of such payment before the designated committee, failing which settlement order would stands obsolete.

FORM-CSA-4

[ See rule 11 ]

[Certificate of settlement under sub-section (1) of Section 13 of the Chhattisgarh Settlement of Arrears of tax, Interest and Penalty Act, 2023]

CERTIFICATE OF SETTLEMENT

It is certified by the designated Committee that an application has been filed for the settlement of arrears of Rs..........Year.....Relevant Act.........of Dealer M/S.............TIN.......... In reference to the above cited application in CSA-1 the dealer has paid the amount in full.................................................. as per Order No.Dated. Under of Section 8. Therefore, the arrears of Rs.....................pertaining

to..........Relevant Act..........Year .........of the Dealer has been settled under the various provisions of this Act.

FORM-CSA-5

[See rule 13]

[Application of Appeal under Section 14 of the Chhattisgarh Settlement of Arrears of tax, Interest and Penalty Act, 2023]

APPLICATION OF APPEAL

To,

Commissioner,

Commercial Tax, Chhattisgarh

Nava Raipur (C.G.)

This appeal is being filed against order dated..............of designated committee (details of committee)........................

VERIFICATION

All the facts stated above are correct as per my information and belief.