9911796707
TMI Blog1962 (2) TMI 63X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... assessee had failed to submit returns for the four quarters ending on 31st March, 1948, in time, the Commercial Tax Officer, 24 Parganas, issued two notices on it under sections 11 and 14 of the Act for production of the books of account etc., before the said authority. The assessee submitted returns sometime afterwards claiming that no amount was payable by it for sales tax for the periods in question as it was not a dealer within the meaning of section 2(c) of the Act. Ultimately the Assistant Commissioner assessed the assessee on the basis of taxable sales as estimated by the Commercial Tax Officer rejecting the contention that it was not a dealer. The assessee filed appeals against the assessment orders before the Commissioner of Comme ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a dealer any tax was payable by it by reason of the fact that the property in the goods lay in the Government of India, no such problems were posed before the Court and we are not called upon to go into them. The main provisions in the agreement between the assessee and the Governor-General in Council dated 29th May, 1947, are: Clause (1) whereby the Government appointed the assessee as their sole and exclusive agent for and on account of the Government for the following purposes: (i) to take over from the representatives of the U.S.A. Foreign Liquidation Commission in India the surplus stores lying at various places; (ii) to retain the said stores in their custody or control; (iii) to sell and dispose of the said stores from time t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... certain provisions of the Act and consider certain decisions which were cited at the Bar. The preamble to the Act shows that the enactment was made with the object of adding to the revenues of West Bengal and for that purpose to impose a general tax on the sale of goods in West Bengal. Section 2(c) of the Act defines a dealer to be a person who carries on the business of selling goods in West Bengal and includes the Government. Under section 4 every dealer whose gross turnover exceeds the taxable quantum is liable to pay tax on all sales effected. "Turnover" has been defined as the aggregate of the amounts of sale prices and parts of sale prices received by any dealer during a given period. Both the preamble to the Act and the provisions no ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of entry 45 in List I of that Schedule. In considering the question as to whether it was a tax on the sale of goods or a duty of excise Gwyer, C.J., observed at page 42: "Since writers on political economy are agreed that taxes on the sale of commodities are simply taxes on the commodities themselves, it is possible to regard a tax on the retail sale of motor spirit and lubricants as a tax on those commodities, and I will assume for the moment in favour of the Government of India that it is on that ground capable of being regarded as a duty of excise." In State of Bombay v. United Motors (India) Ltd.[1953] 4 S.T.C. 133; [1953] S.C.R. 1069., Sastri, C.J., referred to the above observations and added: "Therefore, sales tax the incidence of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... question imposes a tax on the goods although no doubt the imposition of sales tax will generally add to the price of a commodity, a sale of which would make a dealer liable to pay tax. The Judicial Committee had to consider the question in Governor-General in Council v. Province of Madras[1938] 1 S.T.C. 135; 72 I.A. 91. There the vires of the Madras General Sales Tax Act of 1939 came up for consideration and delivering judgment of the Board Lord Simonds said (at page 101): "Their Lordships have thought it desirable to refer to the provisions of the Madras Act in this detail in order to emphasize its essential character. Its real nature, its pith and substance', is that it imposes a tax on the sale of goods. No other succinct description cou ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... its detailed provisions a tax on sales." In Boddu Paidanna case[1942] 1 S.T.C. 104; A.I.R. 1942 F.C. 33. , Gwyer, C.J., had observed: "In the case of a sales tax, the liability to tax arises on the occasion of a sale, and a sale has no necessary connection with manufacture or production. The manufacturer or producer cannot of course sell his commodity unless he has first manufactured or produced it; but he is liable, if at all, to a sales tax because he sells and not because he manufactures or produces; and he would be free from liability if he chose to give away everything which came from his factory. In our opinion the power of the Provincial Legislatures to levy a tax on the sales of goods extends to sales of every kind, whether first s ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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