Maharashtra Govt explains MVAT Act amendments; No ST deduction if WCT composition adopted

Maharashtra Govt explains salient features of amendments to various Act administered by Sales Tax Dept. including MVAT Act pursuant to State Budget 2015-16; Inter alia, states that benefit of deduction of service tax collected separately from “sale price” and “purchase price” shall not be allowed in case of works contract transactions for which composition has been opted u/s 42(3) or u/s 42(3A); However, clarifies that for all periods prior to April 2015, service tax shall not form part of “sale price” in works contract transaction, where Rule 58 has been invoked and service tax has been collected separately, by virtue of Maharashtra Sales Tax Tribunal judgment in Sujata Painters; Further, states that since statutory bar for filing multiple returns u/s 20(4)(c) has been removed w.e.f April 2015, a dealer can file revised returns more than once if he agrees with audit observations in Forms 604 and 605; Benefit of reduced late fee (from Rs 2000/- to Rs 1000/-) where return is filed within 30 days from due date, shall also be available for return period ending March 31, 2015; Also clarifies that issuance of notice in Form 603 no longer a pre-requisite for commencing transaction-wise assessment proceedings u/s 23(5), however, Assessing Authority must clearly state the reasons on proceeding sheet before issuing notice in Form 302 : MVAT Trade Circular