Turnover tax liability of commission agents extends to aggregate sales made for disclosed principals under the sales tax scheme.

A commission agent treated as a dealer under the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941 is liable to turnover tax on the aggregate turnover of sales effected by it, including sales made on behalf of disclosed principals. The Act expressly brings commission agents and similar mercantile agents within the definition of dealer, and the charging scheme measures liability by the dealer's gross turnover once the statutory threshold is crossed. The liability flows from the statute itself, not from general agency principles, and the definitions of sale, sale price and turnover support assessment on the agent's total turnover without principal-wise segregation. Separate assessment for each principal would be inconsistent with the statutory scheme.

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Issues: Whether a commission agent, treated as a dealer under the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941, can be assessed to turnover tax on the aggregate sales effected by it on behalf of multiple disclosed principals, without splitting the turnover principal-wise.

Analysis: The Act expressly includes commission agents and similar mercantile agents within the definition of dealer. It also levies turnover tax on every dealer whose gross turnover exceeds the prescribed limit, and the scheme of the Act does not provide for excluding sales made on behalf of principals from the agent's turnover. The liability arises from the statute itself and not from general principles of agency. The definitions of sale, sale price, turnover, and the charging provision show that the agent's own total turnover is the basis of assessment. The absence of an express turnover clause referring to sales made on one's own account or on account of others does not alter this position. Requiring separate principal-wise assessment would make the statutory scheme unworkable.

Conclusion: A commission agent falling within the definition of dealer is liable to turnover tax on the aggregate turnover of sales made by it, including sales effected on behalf of disclosed principals.

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