Ismail v. Commissioner of Inland Revenue – sllr 1981 volume 2 page 078

Brief
In the case between Ismail (taxpayer) and the Commissioner of Inland Revenue, the primary issue concerned the validity of a tax assessment notice where the statutory requirement for communicating, in writing, the reasons for rejecting the taxpayer’s return was not complied with by the assessor. The sequence of events included the filing of a return with additional income, the payment of quarterly taxes, absence of the legally mandated written communication rejecting the return, and issuance of the assessment notice after the relevant period. It was determined that such non-compliance with mandatory statutory duty, under the Inland Revenue Law (Law No. 30 of 1978) and related provisions, deprived the assessor of the necessary jurisdiction, rendering the assessment void. The principle