Sale in course of import: integrated import licence and sale contract established tax exemption.

Sales of imported goods were treated as sales in the course of import and therefore outside sales tax, because the contract of sale, the actual user's import licence, and the letter of authority formed one integrated transaction. The assessee could not divert the goods to any other purchaser, and the customer's contract and the foreign supplier's contract both reflected the same import arrangement. On those facts, the movement of goods from abroad was occasioned by the sale itself and not by an independent import followed by a separate sale, establishing the required inextricable link for exemption.

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Issues: Whether the disputed turnovers represented sales in the course of import and were therefore exempt from sales tax.

Analysis: The sales were made only against an actual user's import licence, the licence and letter of authority formed part of the transaction, and the assessee could not divert the imported goods to any other purchaser. The contracts with the customer and the foreign supplier referred to the same import arrangement, showing that the movement of goods from abroad was occasioned by the sale and was not an independent import followed by a separate sale. On these facts, the requisite inextricable bond between the import and the sale was established.

Conclusion: The turnovers were sales in the course of import and were not taxable.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a contract of sale, the import licence, and the authority to import are integrated so that the imported goods cannot be diverted to any other destination, the sale occasions the import and is exempt as a sale in the course of import.

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