Section 12 in Himachal Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1968
12. Payment of tax and returns.
(1)Tax payable under the Act shall be paid in the manner hereinafter provided at such intervals as may be prescribed.(2)The Commissioner may, in the public interest and subject to such conditions as he may deem fit, accept from any class of dealers, in lieu of the amount of the tax payable under this Act for any period, by way of composition, a lump sum to be determined and to be paid at such intervals and in such manner as may be prescribed, and thereupon, during the period such composition remains in force, the provisions of this Act and the rules made thereunder relating to the filing of returns and the maintenance of accounts by such dealers shall not apply to them.(3)Such dealers as may be required so to do by the assessing authority by notice served in the prescribed manner and every registered dealer shall furnish such returns by such dates and to such authority as may be prescribed.(4)[ Before a registered dealer furnishes the return required by sub-section (3), he shall, in the prescribed manner, pay into a Government Treasury or the Reserve Bank of India, or at the office of the [Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner or Excise and Taxation Officer- in-charge of the District] [Sub-section (4) Substituted by Act No. 12 of 1979.], the full amount of tax due from him under the Act according to such returns and shall furnish along with the returns a receipt from such treasury, bank or office of the [Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner or Excise and Taxation Officer-in-charge of the District] [Substituted for the words 'District Excise and Taxation Officer' vide Act No. 18 of 1991.] showing the payment of such amount.Provided that no payment of such amount shall be accepted at the office of the [Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner or Excise and Taxation Officer-in-Charge of the District] [Substituted for the Words 'District Excise and Taxation Officer' vide Act No. 18 of 1991.] save through a [crossed cheque or] [The words 'crossed cheque or' inserted vide Act No. 4 of 1981.] bank draft payable at a [local branch of a Scheduled Bank] [Substituted for the words 'local Scheduled Bank' vide Act No. 18 of 1991 w.e.f. 2.11.1991.] in favour of the assessing authority [:] [The sign Substituted for the sign vide Act No. 4 of 1981 w.e.f. 15.11.1980.][Provided further that where the payment is made through a crossed cheque, such crossed cheque must be delivered in the office of the assessing authority concerned not less than ten clear days before the expiry of the due date prescribed under sub-section (3) for filing the return, and the dealer shall be deemed to have made the payment on the date on which such crossed cheque, after its presentation in the bank, is actually credited into the Government account and necessary receipt is issued by the bank in favour of the dealer:] [Proviso added vide Act No. 18 of 1991.][Provided further that where the payment is made through a crossed cheque and the cheque is dishonoured, the dealer shall be deemed to have not made the payment and shall be liable to any action which may be taken for not making payment under the Act or the rules framed thereunder.] [Proviso added vide Act No. 4 of 1981 w.e.f. 15.11.1980.]Explanation. - For the purposes of this sub-section "Scheduled Bank" means a bank included in the Second Schedule to the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 (2 of 1934).](5)If any dealer discovers any omission or other error in any return furnished by him, he may, at any time, before the date prescribed for the furnishing of the next return by him, furnish a revised return, and if the revised return shows a greater amount of tax to be due than was shown in the original return, it shall be accompanied by a receipt showing payment, in the manner prescribed in sub-section (4), of extra amount.(6)If a dealer fails without sufficient cause to comply with the requirements of the provisions of sub-section (3) or sub-section (4), the Commissioner or any person appointed to assist him under sub-section (1) of section 3 may, after giving such dealer a reasonable opportunity of being heard, direct him to pay, by way of penalty, a sum [which shall not be less than ten per centum, but which shall not exceed] [Substituted for the words 'not exceeding' by Act No. 5 of 1991 (Sec. 7).] one and half times of the amount of tax to which he is assessed or is liable to be assessed under section 14 in addition to the amount of tax to which he is assessed or is liable to be assessed, and where no, tax is payable, a sum not exceeding one hundred rupees.(7)If a dealer has maintained false or incorrect accounts with a view to suppressing his sales, purchases or stocks of goods, or has cancelled any particulars of his sales or purchases or has furnished to, or produced before, any authority under this Act or the rules made thereunder any account, return or information which is false or incorrect in any material particular, the Commissioner or any person appointed to assist him under sub-section (1) of section 3 may, after affording such dealer a reasonable opportunity of being heard, direct him to pay by way of penalty in addition to the tax to which he is assessed or is liable to be assessed, an amount which shall not be less than [twenty-five per centum] [The word 'twenty-five' Substituted for 'ten' vide Act Na 5 of 1991' effective w.e.f. 1.4.1991.] but which shall not exceed one and a half times of the amount of tax to which he is assessed or is liable to be assessed.
