ABDULSALAM ROWTHER Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE revision petitioner is the dealer, whose gross turnover for the assessment year 1957-58 was Rs. 6,13,170. 91 the net turnover of Rs. 2,68,794. 07 and who claims for exemption on turnover of Rs. 3,44,376. 84. THE Sales Tax Officer, Ponkunnam has disallowed exemption from tax on the turnover of Rs. 35,666, which is the stock value of pepper, ginger and turmeric, the assessee had on March, 3!, 1958. THE petitioner's claim for exemption rests on these stocks having been after that date sold to assessable dealers in the State. THE appeal against the aforesaid claim being disallowed was filed before the Appellate Assistant Commissioner of Agricultural Income Tax and sales Tax, Kottayam; but the petitioner failed. THE further appeal before the sales Tax Appellate Tribunal has also been disallowed. THErefore the legal issue raised in the revision petition is : 'whether the taxing authorities have correctly disregarded sales beyond the assessment year when the Notification levied the sales tax only on the last purchaser within the State, and satisfactory evidence has been led to show the revision petitioner not to be such last purchaser though after the relevant year' ? THE learned Advocate for the revision petitioner has urged that the Notification having absolutely stated the sales tax to be leviable on the last purchases alone, and the revision petitioner having established his being not such a purchaser, the claim for exemption should not have been disallowed. It would be of advantage to state now the relevant legal provisions.

(2.) THE General Sales Tax Act, No. XI of 1125, hereafter referred to as , the Act, defines 'year' by Section 2 (m), to mean 'the financial year'. Section 3 provides that every dealer shall pay for each year a tax on his total turnover for such year, and the tax shall be calculated at the rates specified in column (3) of Schedule I for every rupee in the turnover relating to the goods noted against them in column (2) thereof, and at the rate of two Naye Paise for every rupee in the turnover relating to all other goods. THE tax would have been multiple, had not Section 5 (vii) reduced the liability to what has come to be called 'single point' tax, and it reads as follows : "the Sale of goods specified in column (2) of schedule I shall be liable to tax under Section 3, sub-s. (1), only at such single point in the series of sales by successive dealers as may be specified by the Government by Notification in the Gazette; and, where the taxable point so specified is a point of sale, the seller shall be liable for the tax on the turnover for which the goods are sold by him at such point, and where the taxable point so specified is a point of purchase, the buyer shall be liable for the tax on the turnover for which the goods are bought by him at such point. " THE Government has specified the points in a Notification whose relevant extract runs as follows : * * * * * In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (vii) of section 5, of the General Sales Tax Act (Act XI of 1125), the Government of Kerala hereby specify the point mentioned in column 3 of the Schedule, hereto appended, as the point liable to tax under Section 3 (i) on the goods mentioned in column 2. Table:#1

(3.) THE Advocate then argued that the intention of the authority is to notify the person who incurs the liability, and it would be incorrect to hold his client liable when the last purchaser by clear evidence is some other person. THE answer is simple. "last purchaser" in the context means such a person within the specified period, and that is the inevitable consequence of the assessment year being a unit. Were we to relax the rule, any cancellation of the last purchase after the assessment year would be available to prove the transaction not to be such. We do not think the notification varies the general principle of annual taxation, and should the inevitable consequence of the principle be hardship to the tax payer, he must bear it. For these reasons, the revision petition fails and we dismiss it with costs, Rs. 100/-