31st March, 2006

To

The Commissioner of Sales Tax,
Maharashtra, Mumbai.

Respected Sir,

Re: Submission of List of Missing Forms

Sub: Extension of date for filing the List

Your honour as per Circular dated 28T dated 24-10-2005, the dealers have to submit with the assessing officers a list of the missing forms, which were to be obtained for the quarter by the end of the next quarter.

The dealers are to file the list for the first quarter after amendment by March 31, 2006. Many dealers as well as members of our association have been unable to file the same and have requested us to seek an extension of time for the submission of the same.

We have to therefore request you to kindly extend the date of filing the list by another quarter, so as to grasp the amendments and put it in the practice.

We trust your honour shall grant our request and oblige.

Thanking you,

Yours truly,
For The Sales Tax Practitioners’ Association of Maharashtra

Convenor
Law & Representation Committee

31st March, 2006.

To

The Commissioner of Sales Tax,
Maharashtra, Mumbai.

Respected Sir,

Re: Issues Pertaining to C Form

1. This is to bring to your notice that although vide circular 4T your honour had promised to grant the forms in 3 to 4 days, the waiting period is getting longer. The waiting period is more than 10 days. In mofussil areas like Sangli the wait is longer than 12 days as sufficient manpower is not available with them. In certain cases although the dealer is called on a given date, the forms are not issued on one pretext or another.
   
   We have to request you to kindly instruct the concerned authorities to record the reason in writing in case they are unable to issue the forms on the given date. Accountability on both sides will be there if the same is implemented.
   
   We are in receipt of the Circular No. 10T of 2006 dated 29-3-2006 from the website, which speaks of Online submission of application for issuance of C form.
    

2. The dealers to whom more than 10 ‘C ‘ forms are to be issued are called and made to write in the details themselves instead of the repository staff filing the same.
    

3. The dealer is required to submit the list of C forms and F form not received in the quarter/month as the case may be. A few of the officers are not aware of the directions given to the dealers in Cir. No. 28T para 5(II) dated 24-10-2005 and are refusing to accept the same.
    

4. Your goodself was to clarify certain queries raised at the time of presentation given on Central Repository, these are

1. Goods dispatched in the month of December, received by the party in January. Party giving the C form of January, we have accounted in December, what is to be done ?

2. Similarly in the case of Branch Transfer, what is to be done.

3. The C forms are issued. Subsequently the amount defers due to Debit note or Credit note, what is to be done.

We have to therefore request you to look into the matter and grant the necessary clarifications in the matter and oblige.

Thanking you,

Yours truly,
For The Sales Tax Practitioners’ Association of Maharashtra

Convenor
Law & Representation Committee

oo

31st March, 2006

To

The Commissioner of Sales Tax,
Maharashtra, Mumbai.

Respected Sir,

Re: Tax Identification Numbers

We have to bring to the notice of your honour that there are many dealers who have so far not received their TIN.

The old registration numbers stand cancelled from 1st April, 2006, in this event please let us know as how should the dealer continue to do business without registration number and when will they receive their numbers..

The certificates have so far not been received. Your honour has on various occasions said the Website is not authenticate information, in such circumstances if the number as per website and then as per actual differs then what needs to be done.

A promise was given by your honour that a procedure for filing decentralized return will be introduced so that PSI units and others opting for the same shall be able to file the returns from different places of business. We await the fulfilment of the said promise.

Your honour may note procedure is also to be issued after TIN with respect of intimation of additional place of business and shifting of place of business. We also await the procedures for the same.

We trust your honour shall do the needful in the matter at the earliest and oblige.

Yours truly,
For The Sales Tax Practitioners’ Association of Maharashtra

Convenor
Law & Representation Committee

Date: 17-4-2006

To

Hon'ble Commissioner of Sales Tax,
Maharashtra State, Mumbai.

Re: Procedure for issuance of statutory forms

Respected Sir,

I had the occasion of attending the Central Repository at Mazgaon Sales Tax Office on 12th & 13th of April 2006, for getting ‘C’ forms for two of my clients.

I am sorry to say that the new system adopted for issuance of the statutory form is horrible to say the least. Mr. almost two full days were wasted in getting a few ‘C’ forms despite all the details were furnished, as required in terms of trade circular No. 4T of 2006 dt. 9-1-2006.

First of all the dealers or their representatives are made to stand in big queue just for getting the application registered with a clerk, who in turn writes the name of an officer, on the application form. The dealer has then to again stand in queue outside the cabin of an officer. If the applicant has more than one application, he has to stand in queue outside the cabin of more than one officer. The officer in turn allots the application to an inspector, to whom the dealer has then to approach for getting his papers verified. Here again one has to wait in the queue. When the dealer’s turn comes, the inspector goes through the papers and asks various irrelevant questions and asks the dealer to produce originals of the payment challans, used ‘C’ form counterfoil and the original of the invoice of highest value shown. This is despite the fact that the aforesaid circular requires only self-attested copies and not the originals to be produced. Further, requirement of producing the rubber stamps of the dealer’s addressed and RC Nos. is imposed on the dealers, though such requirement is not prescribed as per the said circular.

The ball then goes to the court of a clerk, who takes his own time to procure requisite forms, as per the requirement of the dealer and the dealer has to wait again for his turn to come for getting his form to be stamped by a peon sitting near the said clerk.

After the requisite forms are procured a dealer is compelled to fill in the details on the each forms as to the period/quarter, the number of transactions covered, the total value of all these transactions covered as also the name of the party to whom the form is to be furnished. If one has applied for 100 forms, he has to sit before the clerk and fill in these details in each of those 100 forms. You can imagine the time to be wasted by the dealer or his representative in this exercise. Again here also one has to wait in the queue.

It is pertinent to note that this work of filling up the details is assigned to the staff and not to the dealer, as is amply clear from the express terms of the said circular. It is also clear that the dealer is not required to produce his own address stamps and RC number stamps before the officer (which he can affix on the form later on, while issuing the form to his vendor).

The instructions contained in the circular are not followed by the office staff, putting the dealers and their representatives to great hardship.

The question is as why the dealers should be put to such avoidable hardship and loss of time, when the simpler system could be devised with a little thought given to the problem.

In fact, the earlier system of issuance of form by the respective assessing officer, was much more simplified and hassle free for the dealers. It may be possible to say that earlier system as it was left some loopholes, as far as a few dishonest dealers were concerned. These loopholes should be plugged and such large number of honest dealers should not be put to hardship because of that.

I sincerely request your honour to pay a personal visit to the said Central Repository located on the ground floor of the building at Mazgaon and assess the problem of the innocent people suffering for no fault on their part, and to take immediate steps to set right the things.

Thanks & regards

H. P. Bhuta
Advocate

To

Shri Ashwin Tanna,
92, Mulji Jetha Building, 4th Floor,
187, Princess Street, Mumbai – 400 002.

Sir,

With reference to your above letter I am directed to inform you that if no consideration is received/receivable against replacement of mobile sets under warranty, then there will be no sale and thus no tax on the replacement.

If the transfer of replaced mobile sets, in lieu of defective hand sets, is made directly to a customer, then it is not a branch transfer, since the customer is not a branch. Such transfer cannot be against 'F' form. Thus, there would be no tax on transfers made directly to customers.

Thanking you,

Yours faithfully,
S. D. Bhandare