V P SOMASUNDARA MUDALIAR Vs. STATE OF MADRAS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS revision is filed against the order of the Tribunal directing the petitioner to pay sales tax at six per cent. in respect of his turnover relating to tooth-powder manufactured and sold by him on the ground that it would come under the items enumerated in item 51 of the First Schedule to Act I of 1959. The assessee, V. P. Somasundara Mudaliar is a manufacturer and dealer in tooth-powder and rintan ( ). For the assessment year 1959-60 he submitted a return showing a total turnover of Rs. 70, 978 and a taxable turnover of Rs. 62, 499-37. The Deputy Commercial Tax Officer, Peddunaickenpet, (North) Division, rejected his accounts as incorrect and incomplete and determined the taxable turnover to the best of his judgment at Rs. 76, 696. He levied six per cent. tax on the goods holding that both tooth-powder and rintan are goods coming within the scope of item 51 of the First Schedule to the Act.

(2.) AGAINST this order the assessee preferred an appeal to the Appellate Assistant Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, Madras II, contending that tooth-powder could not come under the class of goods specified in item 51 of the First Schedule and that it is liable to be taxed only at the rate of two per cent. He succeeded in getting the tax reduced from six per cent. to two per cent. with regard to rintan, but failed to convince the appellate officer the tooth-powder will not come within the articles mentioned in item 51. Aggrieved against this order, he filed an appeal to the Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal, once again contending that tooth-powder is not a toilet requisite and that it cannot come under the articles specified in item 51. The Tribunal did not agree with the contention, but came to the conclusion that the tooth-powder sold by the petitioner would fit in with the description of the articles set out in item 51 of the First Schedule and accordingly dismissed the appeal.It is against this order of the Tribunal that the assessee has preferred this revision petition. The only point that arises for our consideration is whether tooth-powder can be called a "toilet requisite" and whether it would come under anyone of the items mentioned in item 51 of the First Schedule. Item 51 of the First Schedule to Act I of 1959 is as follows :

(3.) THE primary purpose of a dentifrice is the mechanical cleansing of the teeth ....... Although manufacturers of dentifrices have advanced such claims in their behalf as ability to prevent dental caries (decay) and treatment of pyorrhoea, the inexorable fact remains that dentifrices may be expected to perform only the principal function, the cleansing of the teeth, which includes the prevention of accumulation of layers of mucous plaques that gives them an appearance of yellowness. Dentifrices are not functionally antiseptics, but in cleansing teeth they serve as detergents for teeth and mucous membranes of the mouth since water is usually used to dispose of the dentifrice after brushing ..........." * Similarly in the Book of Popular Science, Vol. 5, it is stated in page 133 that "a dentifrice may aid the brush to clean the teeth effectively .........." It is therefore clear that tooth-powder is mostly used for cleaning the teeth and not for enhancing the beauty of a person.