Collection of tax only by Registered Dealers
17A. (1) No person other than a registered dealer shall collect any amount by way of tax except in accordance with the provisions of this Act and the rules made thereunder and beyond the rate specified.
(2) Any amount collected by any person in contravention of the provisions of sub-section (1) or any amount collected by any person by way oftax or in any other manner not payable under the provisions of this Act ;hall be liable to forfeiture to the Government.
(3) Where the Commissioner has reason to believe any person has willfully contravened the provisions sub-section (I), he may by an order in writing, impose upon such person a penalty of such amount not less than the amount of tax so collected ant not exceeding twice the amount oftax so collected by him in coiltravention of sub-section (1)
(4) The sum forfeited under sub-section (2) and the amount of penalty imposed under sub-section (3) shall be paid by the person or deaier making the unauthorized collection into the Government account by such date as may be specified in anotice for this purpose, being a date not later than thirty days from the date of service of notice.
(5) Any sum forfeited or penalty imposed under this Section which remains unpaid after the date specified in the notice for payment, shall be recoverable as an arrear of land revenue.
( 6 ) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act or any other law for the time being in force, where any sum collected by a person in contravention of sub-section (2) and is paid by him or is recovered from him, such payment or recovery shall discharge him of the liability to refund the sum to the person from whom it was so collected.
(7) No prosecution for an offence under this Act shall be instituted in respect of the same facts on which a penalty if any has been imposed under this Section.
10. Amendment of Section 23,- In the principle Act, in section23,-
(1) In sub-section (3) the word "excess" between the words "shall pay the" and the words" amount of tax" in the last but third line of the sentence be substituted by the following, namely:-
(2) For sub-section(5) the following shall be substituted, namely:-"(5) Where a dealer fails to make payment of the tax assessed or interest levied or penalty imposed onhim orany otheramount due fromhim under this Act within thirty days of the date of service of the notice of demand, the Commissioner shall, afier giving the dealer areasonable opportunity of being heard, direct that such dealer shall, in addition to the amount due, pay, by way of penalty, a sum equal to 3% of such amount of tax, penalty, interest or any other amount due, for every month for the period for which payment has been delayed by him after the date on which such amount was due to be paid.