Section 14: Recovery of unpaid duty or of erroneously refunded duty

14. Recovery of unpaid duty or of erroneously refunded duty or arrears of duty, etc.—(1) Where any person has not levied or paid any duty or has short levied or short paid such duty or where any amount of duty has been refunded erroneously, such person shall be serviced with notice requiring him to show cause for payment of such duty provided that such notice shall be issued within 1[five] years from the relevant date. (2) The 2[officer of Inland Revenue], empowered in this behalf, shall after considering the objections of the person served with a notice to show cause under sub-section (1), determine the amount of duty payable by him and such person shall pay the amount so determined along with default surcharge and penalty as specified by such officer under the provisions of this Act 3[:] 4[Provided that an order under this section shall be made within one hundred and twenty days of issuance of show cause notice or within such extended period as the Commissioner may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, fix, provided that such extended period shall in no case exceed sixty days: Provided further that any period during which the proceedings are adjourned on account of a stay order or Alternative Dispute Resolution proceedings or the time taken through adjournment by the petitioner not exceeding thirty days shall be excluded from the computation of the periods specified in the first proviso.] (3) Where any amount of duty levied and penalty imposed or any other amount payable under this Act is due from any person, such amount or sum shall be recovered in such manner as is prescribed under this Act or rules made there under. 5[(4) The provision of sub-section (2) shall mutatis mutandis apply regarding assistance in collection and recovery of duties in pursuance of a request from a foreign jurisdiction under a tax treaty, a multilateral convention, and inter-governmental agreement or similar agreement or mechanism as the case may be.] (4) Notwithstanding anything contained under any other law for the time being in force, where any business or activity involving liability to charge, levy and pay duty under this Act is sold, discontinued or liquidated, the amount of unpaid or recoverable duty shall be the first charge on the assets of the business. Explanation.—For the purpose of this section, 1[refund includes drawback of duty and] the expression “relevant date” means the date on which the payment of duty was due under sub-section (3) and in case where any amount of duty has been erroneously refunded, the date of its refund.

Effective date: 2005-07-01

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