Printed stationery supplied to customer order was held to be a sale of goods, not a works contract, for tax purposes.

Supply of printed stationery to customer order was treated as a sale of goods, not a works contract, because the transaction transferred finished goods for valuable consideration rather than performing work on the customer's property. A works contract was confined to contracts where construction, fitting out, improvement or repair was the dominant element and labour or service was essential, with materials only ancillary. Where the supplier provides the principal materials and delivers goods made to specification, the transfer remains a sale even if printing or similar processing is involved. The transaction was therefore taxable as turnover from sales.

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Issues: Whether the supply of printed stationery to individual customers at an agreed price was a sale of goods or a works contract.

Analysis: The definition of "sale" was held to cover every transfer of property in goods for valuable consideration, including transfers involved in execution of a works contract, while a works contract was confined to work involving construction, fitting out, improvement or repair, where labour or service was the essential element and materials were merely ancillary. The supply of letter heads, bill books and account books to customer orders was treated as a transaction whose intention and result were the transfer of finished goods for price, not the performance of work on the customer's property. Authorities dealing with printed stationery and similar customer-specific goods were relied upon to distinguish cases where the customer supplied the material or where the contract was truly for work and labour.

Conclusion: The transaction was a sale of goods and not a works contract; the full turnover was taxable.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a contractor supplies the principal materials and the contract results in transfer of finished goods for price, the transaction is a sale of goods even if the goods are made to customer specification and involve printing or similar work.

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