Prescription compounding can amount to production of goods for sale, triggering sales tax registration when turnover thresholds are met.

A dispensing chemist who compounds medicines from individual prescriptions is treated as manufacturing or producing goods for sale under Section 4(5)(a) of the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941. The compounded medicine is regarded as the finished commercial article sold to the customer, distinct from its ingredients, and the compounding process brings that article into existence for sale in the chemist's business. The absence of an express exception for prescription dispensing does not alter the statutory position, because liability turns on production of goods for sale by a dealer within the Act's turnover-based scheme. The chemist is therefore liable to tax registration when the taxable threshold is exceeded.

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Issues: Whether a dispensing chemist who compounds medicines according to individual prescriptions manufactures or produces goods for sale within Section 4(5)(a) of the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941, and is therefore liable to registration under Section 7.

Analysis: The expression "manufactures or produces any goods for sale" was construed in its ordinary and contextual sense, having regard to the Act's definition of dealer and the scheme of liability based on turnover. The dispensed mixture or compound was treated as the finished commercial article sold to the customer, distinct from its ingredients, and the process of compounding prescriptions was held to bring that article into existence for the purpose of sale in the chemist's business. The absence of an express exception for prescription dispensing was considered immaterial, because the Act itself focused on the production of goods for sale by a dealer engaged in selling or supplying goods.

Conclusion: A dispensing chemist who compounds prescriptions produces goods for sale within Section 4(5)(a) and is liable to pay tax and obtain registration if the taxable quantum is exceeded.

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