Sales tax liability on manufactured tobacco continued until removal from the schedule, as later licensing law did not repeal the earlier tax statute.

Two fiscal enactments concerning manufactured tobacco were held to operate in different fields: the Tobacco Vend Fees Act regulated licences for tobacco dealers, while the earlier sales tax law continued to impose tax on sales of manufactured tobacco. The later Act did not expressly or by necessary implication repeal the sales tax statute. As manufactured tobacco remained in the sales tax schedule until 27 September 1954, sales tax liability continued for the period from 1 April 1954 to 26 September 1954, and the direction to file returns for that period was lawful.

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Issues: Whether the action of the State in requiring sales tax returns for the period 1 April 1954 to 26 September 1954, despite the coming into force of the Tobacco Vend Fees Act and the later deletion of manufactured tobacco from the sales tax schedule, was lawful.

Analysis: The petitioner's challenge turned on whether the later enactment displaced the earlier sales tax law in relation to manufactured tobacco. The Court held that the two statutes operated in different fields: one imposed sales tax on the sale of manufactured tobacco, while the other dealt with the grant of licences to tobacco dealers and did not itself impose sales tax. The later Act did not repeal the earlier sales tax statute in relation to manufactured tobacco. Since manufactured tobacco remained in the sales tax schedule until 27 September 1954, sales tax continued to be payable for the intervening period from 1 April 1954 to 26 September 1954. The direction to file returns for that period was therefore in accordance with law.

Conclusion: The impugned action was lawful and the petition failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where two fiscal enactments operate in different spheres and there is no express or necessary repeal, both may co-exist, and tax liability continues under the earlier statute until the relevant item is validly removed from its schedule.

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