[ 669 ]
GOVERNMENT OF PUDUCHERRY
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY
No. XV-PLA/REF/R1/BILL/2021.
Puducherry, the 2nd September 2021.
Under rule 140 of Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business
of the Puducherry Legislative Assembly, the following Bill viz.,
The Puducherry Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2021
(Bill No. 3 of 2021).
which was introduced in the Legislative Assembly on 2nd September, 2021,
is published for general information.
Registered with the Registrar
of Newspapers for India under
No. 10410
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No. 27
Poudouchéry
Jeudi
2
Septembre
2021
No.
Puducherry
Thursday
2nd
September
2021
(11 Bhadra 1943)
Registered No.
PY/44/2021-23
670
LA GAZETTE DE L'ETAT
[PART–II
THE PUDUCHERRY GOODS AND SERVICES TAX
(AMENDMENT) BILL, 2021
(Bill No. 3 of 2021)
A
BILL
further to amend the Puducherry Goods and
Services Tax Act, 2017.
BE it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of
Puducherry in the Seventy-second Year of the
Republic of India as follows:-
1. (1) This Act may be called the Puducherry
Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Act, 2021.
(2) (a) The provisions of sections 4 and 5
of this Act shall be deemed to have come into force
on the 1st day of August, 2021 and the provisions
of section 6 of this Act shall be deemed to have
come into force on the 1st day of June, 2021;
(b) Save as otherwise provided in this Act,
the provisions of section 2, section 3 and sections
7 to 16 of this Act shall come into force on such
date as the Govermnent of Puducherry may, by
notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
2. In the Puducherry Goods and Services Tax
Act, 2017 (hereinafter referred as the “principal
Act”), in section 7, in sub-section (1), after clause (a),
the following clause shall be inserted and shall be
deemed to have been inserted with effect from the
1st day of July, 2017, namely:—
“(aa) the activities or transactions, by a
person, other than an individual to its members or
constituents or vice-versa for cash, deferred
payment or other valuable consideration.
Short title and
commencement.
Amendment of
section 7.
Act
N o . 6
o f
2017.
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LA GAZETTE DE L'ETAT
Explanation.- For the purposes of this
clause, it is hereby clarified that notwithstanding
anything contained in any other law for the time
being in force or any judgment, decree or order of
any Court, Tribunal or Authority, the person and its
members or constituents shall be deemed to be two
separate persons and the supply of activities or
transactions inter se shall be deemed to take place
from one such person to another;”.
3. In section 16 of the principal Act, in
sub-section (2), after clause (a), the following
clause shall be inserted, namely:—
“(aa) the details of the invoice or debit note
referred to in clause (a) has been furnished by the
supplier in the statement of outward supplies and
such details have been communicated to the
recipient of such invoice or debit note in the manner
specified under section 37;”.
4. In section 35 of the principal Act,
sub-section (5) shall be omitted.
5. For section 44 of the principal Act, the
following section shall be substituted namely:—
“44. Every registered person, other than an
Input Service Distributor, a person paying tax under
section 51 or section 52, a casual taxable person
and a non-resident taxable person shall furnish an
annual return which may include a self-certified
reconciliation statement, reconciling the value of
supplies declared in the return furnished for the
financial year, with the audited annual financial
statement for every financial year electronically,
within such time and in such form and in such
manner as may be prescribed:
Amendment of
section 16.
Annual return.
Amendment of
section 35.
Substitution of
new section for
section 44.
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LA GAZETTE DE L'ETAT
[PART–II
Provided that the Commissioner may, on the
recommendations of the Council, by notification,
exempt any class of registered persons from filing
annual return under this section:
Provided further that nothing contained in
this section shall apply to any department of the
Central Government or a State Government or a
local authority, whose books of account are subject
to audit by the Comptroller and Auditor-General of
India or an auditor appointed for auditing the
accounts of local authorities under any law for the
time being in force.”.
6. In section 50 of the principal Act, in
sub-section (1), for the proviso, the following
proviso shall be substituted and shall be deemed to
have been substituted with effect from the 1st day
of July, 2017, namely:-
“Provided that the interest on tax payable in
respect of supplies made during a tax period and
declared in the return for the said period furnished
after the due date in accordance with the provisions
of section 39, except where such return is
furnished after commencement of any proceedings
under section 73 or section 74 in respect of the said
period, shall be payable on that portion of the tax
which is paid by debiting the electronic cash
ledger.”.
7. In section 74 of the principal Act, in
Explanation 1, in clause (ii) for the words and
figures “sections 122, 125, 129 and 130”, the
words and figures “sections 122 and 125” shall be
substituted.
Amendment of
section 50.
Amendment of
section 74.
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8. In section 75 of the principal Act, in
sub-section (12), the following Explanation shall be
inserted, namely:—
“Explanation.- For the purposes of this
sub-section, the expression “self-assessed tax” shall
include the tax payable in respect of details of
outward supplies furnished under section 37, but, not
included in the return furnished under section 39.”.
9. In section 83 of the principal Act, for
sub-section (1), the following sub-section shall be
substituted, namely:-
“(1) Where, after the initiation of any
proceeding under Chapter XII, Chapter XIV or
Chapter XV, the Commissioner is of the opinion that
for the purpose of protecting the interest of the
Government revenue, it is necessary so to do, he
may, by order in writing, attach provisionally, any
property, including Bank account, belonging to the
taxable person or any person specified in
sub-section (1A) of section 122, in such manner as
may be prescribed.”.
10. In section 107 of the principal Act, in
sub-section (6), the following proviso shall be
inserted, namely:-
“Provided that no appeal shall be filed
against an order under sub-section (3) of section 129,
unless a sum equal to twenty-five per cent. of the
penalty has been paid by the appellant.”.
11. In section 129 of the principal Act, —
(i) in sub-section (1), for clauses (a) and (b),
the following clauses shall be substituted, namely:—
“(a) on payment of penalty equal to two
hundred per cent. of the tax payable on
such goods and, in case of exempted goods,
Amendment of
section 75.
Amendment of
section 83.
Amendment of
section 107.
Amendment of
section 129.
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LA GAZETTE DE L'ETAT
[PART–II
on payment of an amount equal to two per
cent. of the value of goods or twenty-five
thousand rupees, whichever is less, where,
the owner of the goods comes forward for
payment of such penalty·
(b) on payment of penalty equal to fifty
per cent. of the value of the goods or two
hundred per cent. of the tax payable on such
goods, whichever is higher, and in case of
exempted goods, on payment of an amount
equal to five per cent. of the value of goods
or twenty-five thousand rupees, whichever
is less, where the owner of the goods does
not come forward for payment of such
penalty;”;
(ii) sub-section (2) shall be omitted;
(iii) for sub-section (3), the following
sub-section shall be substituted, namely:—
“(3) The proper officer detaining or
seizing goods or conveyance shall issue a
notice within seven days of such detention
or seizure, specifying the penalty payable,
and thereafter, pass an order within a period
of seven days from the date of service of
such notice, for payment of penalty under
clause (a) or clause (b) of sub-section (1).”;
(iv) in sub-section (4), for the words
“No tax, interest or penalty”, the words “No penalty”
shall be substituted;
(v) for sub-section (6), the following
sub-section shall be substituted, namely:—
“(6) Where, the person transporting any
goods or the owner of such goods fails
to pay the amount of penalty under
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sub-section (1) within fifteen days from the
date of receipt of the copy of the order
passed under sub-section (3), the goods or
conveyance so detained or seized shall be
liable to be sold or disposed of otherwise,
in such manner and within such time as may
be prescribed, to recover the penalty
payable under sub-section (3):
Provided that the conveyance shall be
released on payment by the transporter of
penalty under sub-section (3) or one lakh
rupees, whichever is less:
Provided further that where the detained
or seized goods are perishable or hazardous
in nature or are likely to depreciate in value
with passage of time, the said period of
fifteen days may be reduced by the proper
officer.”.
12. In section 130 of the principal Act,—
(a) in sub-section (1) for the words
“Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, if”,
the word “Where” shall be substituted;
(b) in sub-section (2), in the second proviso,
for the words, brackets and figures “amount of
penalty leviable under sub-section (1) of section
129”, the words “penalty equal to hundred per cent.
of the tax payable on such goods” shall be
substituted;
(c) sub-section (3) shall be omitted.
13. In section 134 of the principal Act, the
following proviso shall be inserted, namely:—
“Provided that nothing contained in
Chapter XXXVI of the Code of Criminal Procedure,
1973 shall apply to any offence punishable under
this Act.”.
Amendment of
section 130.
Amendment of
section 134.
Central
Act 2
of
1974 .
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LA GAZETTE DE L'ETAT
[PART–II
14. For section 151 of the principal Act, the
following section shall be substituted, namely:—
“151. The Commissioner or an officer
authorised by him may, by an order, direct any
person to furnish information relating to any matter
dealt with in connection with this Act, within such
time, in such form, and in such manner, as may be
specified therein.”.
15. In section 152 of the principal Act,—
(a) in sub-section (1),—
(i) the words “of any individual return or
part thereof” shall be omitted;
(ii) after the words “any proceedings
under this Act”, the words “without giving
an opportunity of being heard to the person
concerned” shall be inserted;
(b) sub-section (2) shall be omitted.
16. In Schedule II of the principal Act,
paragraph 7 shall be omitted and shall be deemed
to have been omitted with effect from the 1st day
of July, 2017.
————
Amendment of
section 152.
Substitution of
new section for
section 151.
Power to call for
information.
Amendment of
Schedule II
677
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STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS
The Goods and Services Tax Council in its 39th meeting held
on 14th March, 2020 and in the 42nd meeting held on 5th October,
2020 had recommended certain amendments to be made in the GST
Law. In order to carry out the amendments as recommended by
the GST Council, the Puducherry Goods and Services Tax Act,
2017 is proposed to be amended. The proposed Puducherry Goods
and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2021, inter alia seeks:—
(i) to make the activities or transactions involving supply
of goods or services by any person other than an individual to its
members or constituents or vice-versa, for cash, deferred payment
or other valuable consideration, as a taxable supply retrospectively
with effect from the 1st July, 2017.
(ii) to provide that input tax credit on invoice or debit note
may be availed only when the details of such invoice or debit note
has been furnished by the supplier in the statement of outward
supplies and such details have been communicated to the recipient
of such invoice or debit note.
(iii) to remove the mandatory requirement of getting annual
accounts audited and the reconciliation statement submitted by
specified professional.
(iv) to remove the mandatory requirement of furnishing a
reconciliation statement duly audited by specified professional and
to provide for filing of the annual return on self-certification basis.
The Commissioner of State Tax will be empowered to exempt a
class of taxpayers from the requirement of filing the annual return.
(v) to charge interest on net cash liability retrospectively
with effect from the lst July, 2017.
(vi) to make seizure and confiscation of goods and
conveyances in transit a separate proceeding from the recovery of tax.
(vii) to insert an Explanation to clarify that “self-assessed
tax” shall include the tax payable in respect of details of outward
supplies furnished under section 37, but, not included in the return
furnished under section 39.
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[PART–II
(viii) to provide that provisional attachment shall remain
valid for the entire period starting from the initiation of any
proceeding under Chapter XII (Assessment), Chapter XIV
(Inspection, Search, Seizure and Arrest) or Chapter XV (Demand
and Recovery) till the expiry of a period of one year from the date
of order made thereunder.
(ix) to provide that no appeal shall be filed against an order
made under sub-section (3) of section 129, unless a sum equal to
twenty-five per cent. of the penalty has been paid by the appellant.
(x) to delink the proceedings under section 129 relating to
detention, seizure and release of goods and conveyances in transit,
from the proceedings under section 130 relating to confiscation
of goods or conveyances and levy of penalty.
(xi) to delink the proceedings under section 130 relating
to confiscation of goods or conveyances and levy of penalty from
the proceedings under section 129 relating to detention, seizure and
release of goods and conveyances in transit.
(xii) to provide for the inapplicability of the provisions of
Chapter XXXVI of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 to
offences punishable under the Act.
(xiii) to empower the Commissioner of State Tax to call
for information from any person relating to any matters dealt with
in connection with the Act.
(xiv) to provide that no information obtained under sections
150 and 151 shall be used for the purposes of any proceedings
under the Act without giving an opportunity of being heard to the
person concerned.
(xv) to omit paragraph 7 in Schedule II of the principal
Act with effect from 1st July, 2017, as a consequence to the
Amendment made in section 7.
2. The Bill seeks to achieve the above objects.
N. RANGASAMY,
Chief Minister.
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FINANCIAL MEMORANDUM
The proposed Puducherry Goods and Services Tax
(Amendment) Bill, 2021 does not involve any recurring or
non-recurring expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of the
Union territory of Puducherry.
————
MEMORANDUM REGARDING DELEGATED LEGISLATION
Clause 5 of the Bill seeks to amend section 44 of the
Puducherry Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, so as to empower
the Government to provide by rules the time within which and the
form and manner in which every registered person, other than an
Input Service Distributor, a person paying tax under section 51 or
section 52 a casual taxable person and a non-resident taxable person
shall furnish an annual return.
Clause 9 of the Bill seeks to amend section 83 of the said Act
by substituting sub-section (1) thereof, which empowers the
Government to provide by rules the manner in which the
Commissioner may attach provisionally any property, including
Bank account, belonging to the taxable person or any person
specified in sub-section (1A) of section 122.
Clause 11 of the Bill seeks to amend section 129 of the said
Act. Sub-section (6) of the said section seeks to empower the
Government to provide by rules the manner in which and the time
within which the goods or conveyance detained or seized under
that section shall be sold or disposed of.
2. The matters in respect of which the rules may be made
are generally matters of procedure and administrative details and
it is not practicable to provide for them in the Bill itself.
3. Therefore, the powers delegated are of normal and not of
an exceptional character.
————
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[PART–II
ADMINISTRATOR’S RECOMMENDATION UNDER
SUB-SECTION (1) OF SECTION 23 OF THE GOVERNMENT
OF UNION TERRITORIES ACT, 1963
[Copy of the Letter No. 001/CM/OSD/PA/Assembly/2021,
dated 27-08-2021 from the Hon’ble Chief Minister
Thiru N. Rangasamy, to the Hon’ble Speaker, Legislative
Assembly, Puducherry.]
The Lieutenant-Governor, Puducherry, having been informed
of the subject matter of the proposed Puducherry Goods and
Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2021, recommends under
sub-section (1) of section 23 of the Government of Union
Territories Act, 1963 (Central Act 20 of 1963), the introduction in
and consideration by the Legislative Assembly of the said Bill.
————
R. MOUNISSAMY,
Secretary,
Legislative Assembly Secretariat.
online publication at “https://styandptg.py.gov.in”
Published by the Director, Government Press, Puducherry.