Section 26 in The Punjab Tax on Luxuries Act, 2009
26. Power of inspection and search.
(1)The Commissioner or the assessing authority, may, subject to such conditions, as may be prescribed, require any proprietor to produce before it, the records of accounts, registers or other documents or to furnish any other information relating to his business, as may be necessary for the purpose of this Act.(2)All records of accounts, registers or other documents relating to the business of any hotel or banquet hall, shall at all reasonable times, be open for inspection by the Commissioner or the assessing authority, and the Commissioner or the assessing authority, as the case may be, may take or cause to be taken such copies or extract of the said records, as may be necessary for the purpose of ascertaining the accuracy of the charges received for providing luxury.(3)If the Commissioner or the assessing authority has reason to believe that a proprietor has evaded or is trying to evade the payment of tax due from him, it may, for the reasons to be recorded in writing, seize such records of accounts, registers or other documents of the proprietor, as may be necessary and shall issue a receipt for the same, and shall retain them so long as may be necessary in connection with any proceedings under this Act:Provided that the records of accounts, registers or other documents so seized, shall not be retained for a period, exceeding one hundred eighty day from the date of seizure, unless reasons for retaining the same beyond the said period, are recorded in writing and the approval of the Commissioner is obtained in case, the seizure is made by the assessing authority, and such approval in any case, shall not be for more than sixty days at a time.(4)For the purposes of this Act, the Commissioner or the assessing authority, may enter and search any hotel or banquet hall or any place of business of the proprietor or any other place where they have reason to believe that the proprietor keeps, or is for the time being keeping any records of accounts, registers or other documents relating to his business.(5)No other person shall enter and search any premises, without the prior permission of the Commissioner or of such other officer, not below the rank of the Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner, as the Commissioner may authorize in writing.(6)The assessing authority shall have the power to record the statement of any person connected with the business of the proprietor including a bailee or a transporter, and such statement may, after giving the affected person a reasonable opportunity of being heard, be used for the purpose of determining the liability of the proprietor to tax.Chapter-VII Penalties
