1962 (8) TMI 53 - HC - VAT and Sales Tax

Summary

Issues:
1. Whether excise duty paid by the assessee forms part of the assessable turnover under the Central Sales Tax Act.
2. Whether excise duty paid to the Central Government and charged separately in the sale bills is an allowable deduction under rule 7(1) of the General Sales Tax Rules read with section 9(3) of the Central Sales Tax Act.

Analysis:
1. The petitioner, a mill, contested whether excise duty paid to the Central Government should be included in its assessable turnover under the Central Sales Tax Act. The definition of "turnover" and "sale price" were crucial in determining this issue. The court held that since excise duty was collected from customers as part of the consideration for the sale of goods, it should be assessable to sales tax under the Act. Citing a similar case, the court affirmed that any amount paid by the buyer, except those specifically excluded, must be part of the sale price, thus including excise duty.

2. The petitioner argued that excise duty should be excluded based on rule 7(1) of the General Sales Tax Rules and section 9(3) of the Central Sales Tax Act. However, the court rejected this argument, stating that the phrase "in the same manner" in section 9(3) did not extend to all provisions of the local sales tax law. The court emphasized that the procedural provisions of the local law applied to assessment and tax collection, not the determination of turnover. Therefore, the excise duty paid was not an allowable deduction under the mentioned rules. Consequently, the court dismissed the revision petition, ruling against the petitioner on both issues.