Deptt have the burden of proof in case of small errors

Burden of Prove is on Taxpayer HOWEVER If the Error is Clerical/ Typographical in Nature, Initial Burden is on Department to Prove Evasion of Tax- [Way Bill, Vehicle Detention] Allahabad High Court in case of M/S Indeutsch Industries Private Limited Versus State Of U.P. And 2 Others in Writ Tax No. – 1314 of 2019 Dated.- February 19, 2024 6. Upon a perusal of the documents annexed to the writ petition, it is quite obvious that in the present transaction goods were moving from a SEZ Unit to Domestic Traffic Area and the said goods have been checked by the Custom authorities. Custom duty and also IGST had been paid on the said goods. The said goods were intercepted only two-three hours after the goods have left the SEZ Unit, and therefore, it cannot be said that this e-way bill was wrongly being used. It is a fact that the burden of proof lies on the petitioner in certain cases to show that there was no evasion of tax. However, when the the error in the documents is only that of a clerical or typographical error, the initial burden of proof lies on the department to show there was intention to evade tax. In the present case the department has failed to do so and infact has not even tried to do so. The documents produced by the petitioner at the time of the interception itself indicates that the goods have been transported from a SEZ Unit to the DTA after payment of custom duty and payment of IGST. This fact has not been discredited by the department in any manner whatsoever. Infact there is complete silence with regard to the fact whether the petitioner had made the payment as indicated in the invoices and the bill of entry. The department has accordingly failed to shift the burden of proof on the petitioner as the only error found by the department was that the vehicle number was incorrect. Apart from this one error in the e-way bill, nothing has been shown by the department to justify the imposition of penalty under Section 129(3) of the Act. The impugned order also failed to take into account the document produced by the petitioner of the transporter wherein the explanation was given with regard to the reason for the mistake of the vehicle number in the e-way bill.