Insurance charges included in sale bills form part of taxable turnover under the sales tax definition.

Insurance charges recovered through the sale bills and treated as part of the consideration were held to fall within the definition of "turnover" under the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act. Because the amounts were included in the bill of sale, clause (i) of the definition applied, and there was no need to rely on the provision dealing with sales without a bill. The court treated the statutory definition as broad enough to cover such charges, with the result that the sales tax assessment including the insurance charges was upheld.

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Issues: Whether insurance charges collected in connection with the sale of goods formed part of the "turnover" liable to sales tax under section 2(1)(s) of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957.

Analysis: The amounts towards insurance charges were found to have been claimed in the bills of sale and recovered as part of the consideration for the transaction. On that factual footing, the charges fell within clause (i) of the definition of "turnover", which covers the total amount set out in the bill of sale. It was therefore unnecessary to invoke clause (iii)(c), which applies where there is no bill of sale. The definition was held to be broad enough to include such amounts, and the challenge to the assessment failed.

Conclusion: Insurance charges formed part of the taxable turnover and were rightly included in the sales tax assessment.

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