(1)Any dealer required to furnish the clearance certificate under Section 36 shall make an application in Form 43 to the appropriate Commercial Tax Officer for grant of such certificate and shall obtain a written acknowledgment therefor from the said officer.(2)(a)On receipt of the application, the appropriate Commercial Tax Officer shall grant a tax clearance certificate in Form 44 to the dealer or reject the application within one month from the date of receipt of the application. An application for a tax clearance certificate shall be rejected, if the dealer is either in arrears of a tax or has not furnished a return for any period which is pending for assessment.(b)Where an application is rejected, the appropriate Commercial Tax Officer shall specify the amount of arrears outstanding against the dealer. If the arrears are paid the tax clearance certificate shall be given to the dealer. The certificate shall be prepared in duplicate. One copy shall be given to the dealer and the other copy will be retained by the appropriate Commercial Tax Officer for his record. Where an application is rejected the appropriate Commercial Tax Officer shall immediately intimate this fact to the officer specified at serial No. 7 of application in Form 43.(3)The tax clearance certificate granted under clause (a) of sub-rule (2) shall be valid for a period of one year from the date of its issue.(4)Where facility to pay any amount in instalments has been granted to a dealer under sub-section (6) of Section 32 or where the recovery of any amount due has been stayed by any competent authority, such amount shall not be treated as an amount in arrears for the purposes of this rule unless the dealer has failed to pay any instalment due from him.
