Commission agent turnover under sales tax law is aggregated and principal's exemption does not automatically protect the agent.

A sales tax statute that treats a commission agent as a dealer and includes goods sold on account of others within turnover makes the agent separately liable on transactions carried out for agriculturist-principals. The principal's exemption for produce grown by him does not automatically extend to the agent, because the agent's liability is fixed by the statutory definition of dealer and turnover rather than by general agency principles. The same statutory language also allows the agent's transactions for multiple principals to be aggregated in one turnover computation, without requiring separate assessment for each principal.

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Issues: (i) Whether a commission agent who, on behalf of agriculturist-principals, appropriated turmeric to his own account could be assessed to sales tax on that turnover notwithstanding the principals' exemption; (ii) whether the agent's liability had to be worked out separately with reference to each principal, so that the turnovers relating to different principals could not be aggregated.

Issue (i): Whether a commission agent who, on behalf of agriculturist-principals, appropriated turmeric to his own account could be assessed to sales tax on that turnover notwithstanding the principals' exemption.

Analysis: Under the statutory definition, a commission agent carrying on business on behalf of principals is treated as a dealer, and turnover includes the aggregate amount for which goods are bought or sold by such dealer on his own account or on account of others. The exemption available to an agriculturist-principal for produce grown by him does not automatically pass to the agent when the Act separately treats the agent's transactions as the agent's own turnover. The liability of the agent is governed by the Act and not by the general rule that an agent's liability is co-extensive with that of the principal.

Conclusion: The agent was liable to tax on the disputed turnover, and the principals' exemption did not protect the assessee.

Issue (ii): Whether the agent's liability had to be worked out separately with reference to each principal, so that the turnovers relating to different principals could not be aggregated.

Analysis: The definition of turnover expressly covers goods bought or sold by a dealer directly or through another, on his own account or on account of others. On that language, all transactions effected by the commission agent in that capacity form part of his own turnover, regardless of the number of principals for whom he acts. The statute therefore does not require a separate assessment for each principal when the agent's own turnover is being determined.

Conclusion: The turnovers attributable to the several principals were correctly aggregated in assessing the assessee.

Final Conclusion: The statutory scheme treated the commission agent's dealings as his own taxable turnover, and the challenge to the assessment failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a sales tax statute defines a commission agent as a dealer and defines turnover to include sales made by him on account of others, the agent's transactions are aggregated as his own turnover and any exemption available to the principal does not automatically exempt the agent.

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