Hotel-Receipts Tax Act, 1980

To impose a special tax on gross receipts of certain hotels.

Hotel-Receipts Tax Act, 1980

Act No. 54 of 1980

[9th December, 1980]

An Act to impose a special tax on gross receipts of certain hotels

Be it enacted by Parliament in the Thirty-first Year of the Republic of India as follows:—

1. Short title and extent.

1. Short title and extent.—(1) This Act may be called the Hotel-Receipts Tax Act, 1980.

(2) It extends to the whole of India.

2. Definitions.

2. Definitions.—In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—

(1) “assessee” means a person by whom hotel-receipts tax or any other sum of money is payable under this Act and includes—

(a) every person in respect of whom any proceeding under this Act has been taken for the assessment of his chargeable receipts or of the amount of refund due to him or of the chargeable receipts of any other person in respect of which he is assessable or of the amount of refund due to such other person;

(b) every person who is deemed to be an assessee in default under any provision of this Act;

(2) “assessment” includes reassessment;

(3) “assessment year” means the period of twelve months commencing on the 1st day of April every year;

(4) “Board” means the Central Board of Direct Taxes constituted under the Central Boards of Revenue Act, 1963 (54 of 1963);

(5) “chargeable receipts” means the total amount of all charges referred to in Section 6, computed in the manner laid down in Section 7;

(6) “hotel” includes a building or part of a building where residential accommodation is, by way of business, provided for a monetary consideration;

(7) “hotel-receipts tax” or “tax” means the tax chargeable under the provisions of this Act;

(8) “Income-tax Act” means the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961);

(9) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act;

(10) “room charges” means the charges for a unit of residential accommodation in a hotel and includes the charges for—

(a) furniture, air-conditioner, refrigerator, radio, music, telephone, television, and

(b) such other services as are normally included by a hotel in room rent,

but does not include charges for food, drink and any services other than those referred in sub-clauses (a) and (b);

(11) all other words and expressions used herein but not defined and defined in the Income-tax Act shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in that Act.

3. Application of the Act.

3. Application of the Act.—(1) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (2) and sub-section (3), this Act shall apply in relation to every hotel wherein the room charges for residential accommodation provided to any person at any time during the previous year are seventy-five rupees or more per day per individual.

Explanation.—Where the room charges are payable otherwise than on daily basis or per individual, then the room charges shall be computed as for a day and per individual based on the period of occupation of the residential accommodation for which the charges are payable and the number of individuals ordinarily permitted to occupy such accommodation according to the rules and custom of the hotel.

(2) Where a composit charge is payable in respect of residential accommodation and food, the room charges included therein shall be determined in the prescribed manner.

(3) Where—

(i) a composite charge is payable in respect of residential accommodation, food, drink and other services, or any of them, and the case is not covered by the provisions of sub-section (2), or

(ii) it appears to the Income-tax Officer that the charges for residential accommodation, food, drink or other services are so arranged that the room charges are understated and the other charges are overstated,

the Income-tax Officer shall for the purposes of sub-section (1), determine the room charges on such reasonable basis as he may deem fit.

4. Tax authorities.

4. Tax authorities.—(1) Every Director of Inspection, Commissioner of Income-tax, Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals), Inspecting Assistant Commissioner of Income-tax, Income-tax Officer and Inspector of Income-tax shall have the like powers and perform the like functions under this Act as he has and performs under the Income-tax Act, and for the exercise of his powers and the performance of his functions, his jurisdiction under this Act shall be the same as he has under the Income-tax Act.

(2) All officers and persons employed in the execution of this Act shall observe and follow the orders, instructions and directions of the Board:

Provided that no such orders, instructions or directions shall be issued—

(a) so as to require any tax authority to make a particular assessment or to dispose of a particular case in a particular manner; or

(b) so as to interfere with the discretion of the Commissioner (Appeals) in the exercise of his appellate functions.

(3) Every Income-tax Officer employed in the execution of this Act shall observe and follow the orders, instructions and directions issued for his guidance by the Director of Inspection or by the Commissioner or by the Inspecting Assistant Commissioner within whose jurisdiction he performs his functions.

 

Other Contents of Hotel-Receipts Tax Act, 1980

Sections 1 to 15 Sections 16 to 37

 

5. Charge of tax.

5. Charge of tax.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, there shall be charged on every person carrying on the business of a hotel in relation to which this Act applies, for every assessment year commencing on or after the 1st day of April, 1981, a tax in respect of his chargeable receipts of the previous year at the rate of fifteen per cent. of such receipts:

Provided that where such chargeable receipts include any charges received in foreign exchange, then, the tax payable by the assessee shall be reduced by an amount equal to five per cent. of the charges (exclusive of the amounts payable by way of sales tax, tax on luxuries or tax under this Act) so received in foreign exchange.

Explanation.—For the purposes of this sub-section,—

(a) charges received in Indian currency obtained by conversion of foreign exchange into Indian currency shall, in such cases and in such circumstances as may be prescribed, be deemed to have been received in foreign exchange; and

(b) “foreign exchange” and “Indian currency” shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in clauses (h) and (k) of Section 2 of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973 (46 of 1973).

(2) Where, under an arrangement made between a person carrying on the business of a hotel to which this Act applies and any other person having close connection with him, any food, drink or other services is or are provided on the premises of such hotel by the second-mentioned person and the Income-tax Officer is of opinion that such arrangement has been made with a view to avoiding or reducing the liability under this Act by the first-mentioned person, then,

(a) the second-mentioned person shall also be deemed to be a person carrying on the business of a hotel to which this Act applies; and

(b) hotel-receipts tax shall be charged on the second-mentioned person in respect of charges for food, drink or other services so provided by him as if such charges were the chargeable receipts of the business of a hotel deemed to be carried on by him under clause (a), and all the provisions of this Act shall apply accordingly.

Explanation.—For the purposes of this sub-section,—

(i) a close connection shall be deemed to exist between a person carrying on the business of a hotel and another person if, in relation to the person carrying on the business of a hotel, such other person is a person referred to in clause (b) of sub-section (2) of Section 40-A of the Income-tax Act;

(ii) any food, drink or other services shall be deemed to have been provided on the premises of a hotel if the same is or are provided in the hotel or any place appurtenant thereto and where the hotel is situate in a part of building, in any other part of the building.

6. Scope of chargeable receipts.

6. Scope of chargeable receipts.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the chargeable receipts of any previous year of an assessee shall be the total amount of all charges, by whatever name called, received by, or accruing or arising to, the assessee in connection with the provision of residential accommodation, food, drink and other services or any of them (including such charges from persons not provided with such accommodation) [i][but excluding such charges from persons within the purview of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961 or the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, 1963] in the course of carrying on the business of a hotel to which this Act applies and shall also include every amount collected by the assessee by way of tax under this Act, sales tax, entertainment tax and tax on luxuries.

(2) For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that where any such charges have been included in the chargeable receipts of any previous year as charges accruing or arising to the assessee during that previous year, such charges shall not be included in the chargeable receipts of any subsequent previous year in which they are received by the assessee.

7. Computation of chargeable receipts.

7. Computation of chargeable receipts.—(1) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (2), the following deductions shall be allowed in computing the chargeable receipts of any previous year—

(i) the amount of charges accruing or arising in an earlier previous year which is established to have become a bad debt during the previous year:

Provided that such charges have been taken into account in computing the chargeable receipts of the assessee of any earlier previous year and the amount has been written off as irrecoverable in the accounts of the assessee for the previous year during which it is established to have become a bad debt;

(ii) any amount payable by way of sales tax, entertainment tax or tax on luxuries in respect of any charges included in the chargeable receipts of the previous year;

(iii) the amount of tax chargeable under this Act.

Explanation.—For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that in computing the chargeable receipts of a previous year, no deduction, other than the deductions specified in this sub-section, shall be allowed from the total amount of charges received by, or accruing or arising to, the assessee.

(2) In computing the chargeable receipts of a previous year, the amount of charges which is received by or which accrues or arises to the assessee before the expiry of one month from the end of the month in which this Act comes into force shall not be taken into account.

8. Return of chargeable receipts.

8. Return of chargeable receipts.—(1) Every person, who, during the previous year, carried on the business of a hotel in relation to which this Act applies or is assessable in respect of the chargeable receipts of any other person under this Act, shall furnish a return of his chargeable receipts or the chargeable receipts of such other person of the previous year in the prescribed form and verified in the prescribed manner and setting forth such other particulars as may be prescribed, before the expiry of four months from the end of the previous year in respect of the business of the hotel or where there is more than one previous year in respect of such business, from the end of the previous year which expired last before the commencement of the assessment year, or before the 30th day of June of the assessment year, whichever is later:

Provided that, on an application made in this behalf, the Income-tax Officer may, in his discretion, extend the date for furnishing the return.

(2) In the case of any person who, in the Income-tax Officer’s opinion, is assessable under this Act, whether in respect of his own chargeable receipts or in respect of the chargeable receipts of any other person, the Income-tax Officer may, before the end of the relevant assessment year, issue a notice to him and serve the same upon him, requiring him to furnish within thirty days from the date of service of the notice a return of his chargeable receipts or the chargeable receipts of such other person of the previous year in the prescribed form and verified in the prescribed manner and setting forth such other particulars as may be prescribed:

Provided that on an application made in this behalf, the Income-tax Officer may, in his discretion, extend the date for furnishing the return.

(3) Any assessee who has not furnished a return within the time allowed under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2), or having furnished a return under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2), discovers any omission or wrong statement therein, may furnish a return or a revised return, as the case may be, at any time before the assessment is made.

9. Self-assessment.

9. Self-assessment.—(1) Where any hotel-receipts tax is payable on the basis of any return required to be furnished under Section 8 or Section 13, after taking into account the amount of hotel-receipts tax, if any, already paid under any provision of this Act, the assessee shall be liable to pay such tax before furnishing the return and the return shall be accompanied by proof of payment of such tax.

(2) After an assessment under Section 10 or Section 11 has been made, any amount paid under sub-section (1) shall be deemed to have been paid towards such assessment.

(3) If any assessee fails to pay the hotel-receipts tax or any part thereof in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (1), the Income-tax Officer may direct that a sum equal to two per cent. of such tax or part thereof, as the case may be, shall be recovered from him by way of penalty for every month during which the default continues:

Provided that before levying any such penalty, the assessee shall be given a reasonable opportunity of being heard.

10. Assessment.

10. Assessment.—(1) For the purpose of making an assessment under this Act, the Income-tax Officer may serve on any person who has furnished a return under Section 8 or upon whom a notice has been served under sub-section (2) of Section 8 (whether a return has been furnished or not) a notice requiring him on a date therein to be specified, to produce or cause to be produced such accounts or documents or other evidence as the Income-tax Officer may require for the purposes of this Act and may, from time to time, serve further notices requiring the production of such further accounts or documents or other evidence as he may require.

(2) The Income-tax Officer, after considering such accounts, documents or other evidence, if any, as he has obtained under sub-section (1) and after taking into account any relevant material which he has gathered, shall, by an order in writing, assess the chargeable receipts and the amount of the hotel-receipts tax payable on the basis of such assessment.

11. Best judgment assessment.

11. Best judgment assessment.—If—

(a) any person fails to make the return required by any notice given under sub-section (2) of Section 8 and has not made a return or a revised return under sub-section (3) of that section, or

(b) any person having made a return, fails to comply with all the terms of a notice issued under sub-section (1) of Section 10, or

(c) the Income-tax Officer is not satisfied about the correctness or the completeness of the accounts of the assessee,

the Income-tax Officer, after taking into account all relevant material which he has gathered, shall make the assessment of the chargeable receipts to the best of his judgment and determine the sum payable by the assessee or refundable to the assessee on the basis of such assessment.

12. Re-opening of assessment at the instance of the assessee.

12. Re-opening of assessment at the instance of the assessee.—(1) Where an assessee assessed under Section 11 makes an application to the Income-tax Officer, within one month from the date of service of a notice of demand issued in consequence of the assessment, for the cancellation of the assessment on the ground—

(i) that he was prevented by sufficient cause from making the return required under sub-section (2) of Section 8, or

(ii) that he did not receive the notice issued under sub-section (1) of Section 10, or

(iii) that he had not a reasonable opportunity to comply, or was prevented by sufficient cause from complying, with the terms of the notice referred to in clause (ii),

the Income-tax Officer shall, if satisfied about the existence of such ground, cancel the assessment and proceed to make a fresh assessment in accordance with the provisions of Section 10 or Section 11.

(2) Every application made under sub-section (1) shall be disposed of within ninety days from the date of receipt thereof by the Income-tax Officer:

Provided that in computing the period of ninety days aforesaid, any delay in disposing of the application which is attributable to the assessee shall be excluded.

13. Receipts escaping assessment.

13. Receipts escaping assessment.—If—

(a) the Income-tax Officer has reason to believe that by reason of the omission or failure on the part of the assessee to make a return under Section 8 for any assessment year or to disclose fully and truly all material facts necessary for his assessment for any assessment year, chargeable receipts for that year have escaped assessment or have been under-assessed or have been made the subject of excessive relief under this Act, or

(b) notwithstanding that there has been no commission or failure as mentioned in clause (a) on the part of the assessee, the Income-tax Officer has, in consequence of information in his possession, reason to believe that chargeable receipts assessable for any assessment year have escaped assessment or have been under-assessed or have been the subject of excessive relief under this Act.

he may, in cases falling under clause (a), at any time, and in cases falling under clause (b), at any time within four years of the end of that assessment year, serve on the assessee a notice containing all or any of the requirements which may be included in a notice under Section 8 and may proceed to assess or reassess the amount chargeable to hotel-receipts tax, and the provisions of this Act shall, so far as may be, apply, as if the notice were a notice issued under that section.

14. Advance payment of hotel-receipts tax.

14. Advance payment of hotel-receipts tax.—(1) Hotel-receipts tax shall be payable in advance during the financial year in respect of the chargeable receipts of the period which would be the previous year for the immediately following assessment year in accordance with the provisions of this section.

(2) Hotel-receipts tax shall be payable in advance in two instalments on the following dates during the financial year, namely:—

(i) the 15th day of September in respect of the chargeable receipts attributable to the first half of the previous year; and

(ii) the 15th day of March in respect of the chargeable receipts attributable to the second half of the previous year:

Provided that the hotel-receipts tax payable in advance during the financial year commencing on the 1st day of April, 1980 shall be payable in one sum on the 15th day of March, 1981.

(3) Every assessee shall, in each financial year, on or before such of the dates on which an instalment of hotel-receipts tax is payable in advance, send to the Income-tax Officer, an estimate of the chargeable receipts attributable to the relevant part of previous year and the hotel-receipts tax payable in advance on such chargeable receipts and shall pay such amount of hotel-receipts tax as accords with his estimate on or before the relevant date specified in sub-section (2):

Provided that in respect of the hotel-receipts tax payable in advance during the financial year commencing on the 1st day of April, 1980, the assessee shall send to the Income-tax Officer an estimate of the chargeable receipts attributable to the period which would be the previous year for the assessment year commencing on the 1st day of April, 1981 and the hotel-receipts tax payable in advance on such chargeable receipts and shall pay such amount of hotel-receipts tax as accords with his estimate on or before the 15th day of March, 1981.

(4) Every estimate under this section shall be sent in the prescribed form and verified in the prescribed manner.

(5) If any assessee does not pay on or before the specified date any instalment of hotel-receipts tax payable in advance, he shall be deemed to be an assessee in default in respect of such instalment.

15. Penalty for failure to furnish returns, comply with notices, concealment of receipts, etc.

15. Penalty for failure to furnish returns, comply with notices, concealment of receipts, etc.—(1) If, in the course of any proceedings under this Act, the Income-tax Officer or the Commissioner (Appeals) is satisfied that any person—

(a) has, without reasonable cause, failed to furnish the return of chargeable receipts which he was required to furnish under sub-section (1) of Section 8 or by notice given under sub-section (2) of Section 8 or Section 13 or has, without reasonable cause, failed to furnish it within the time allowed and the manner required by sub-section (1) of Section 8 or by such notice, as the case may be, or

(b) has, without reasonable cause, failed to comply with the notice under sub-section (1) of Section 10, or

(c) has concealed the particulars of his chargeable receipts or furnished inaccurate particulars of such receipts,

he may direct that such person shall pay by way of penalty,—

(i) in the cases referred to in clause (a), in addition to the hotel-receipts tax payable by him, a sum equal to two per cent. of the assessed tax for every month during which the default continued, but not exceeding in the aggregate fifty per cent. of the assessed tax.

Explanation.—In this clause, “assessed tax” means hotel-receipts tax chargeable under the provisions of this Act, as reduced by the sum, if any, paid in advance under Section 14;

(ii) in the cases referred to in clause (b), in addition to the hotel-receipts tax payable by him, a sum which shall not be less than ten per cent. but which shall not exceed fifty per cent. of the amount of the hotel-receipts tax which would have been avoided if the return made by him had been accepted as correct;

(iii) in the cases referred to in clause (c), in addition to the hotel-receipts tax payable by him, a sum which shall not be less than, but which shall not exceed twice, the amount of hotel-receipts tax which would have been avoided if the return made by him had been accepted as correct:

Provided that in a case failing under clause (c), the Income-tax Officer shall not impose any penalty without the previous approval of the Inspecting Assistant Commissioner.

(2) On making an order imposing a penalty under this section, the Commissioner (Appeals) shall forthwith send a copy of the same to the Income-tax Officer.

References

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