Complete statement of case is essential in tax reference; incomplete tribunal findings require remand for fresh preparation.

In a tax reference, the High Court can answer referred questions only on a complete statement of the case based on the Tribunal's recorded findings in its final appellate or revisional order. The statement must set out the relevant facts, the evidence relied on, and the conclusions reached so the court can decide the reference on the facts as found. Where the statement instead reflects observations made at the reference stage and omits the Tribunal's final findings, it is incomplete and cannot support adjudication. The matter must then be remitted to the Tribunal to prepare a proper statement of the case.

---

---

Issues: Whether the incomplete statement of the case required the matter to be sent back to the Sales Tax Tribunal for preparation of a proper statement for answering the reference.

Analysis: The reference procedure requires the Tribunal to place before the High Court a complete statement of the case based on the findings already recorded in its appellate or revisional order. The statement must clearly set out the relevant facts, the materials on which those facts were found, and the conclusions reached, so that the High Court decides the referred questions on the facts as found by the Tribunal. Since the statement submitted here did not contain the findings of fact from the Tribunal's final order and instead reflected observations made at the reference stage, it was held to be incomplete and unsuitable for adjudication of the legal questions referred.

Conclusion: The matter was remitted to the Sales Tax Tribunal to draw up a complete and proper statement of the case.

Final Conclusion: The reference could not be answered on the incomplete material supplied and had to go back for fresh statement preparation in accordance with the reference procedure.

Ratio Decidendi: In a tax reference, the High Court can decide the referred questions only on a complete statement of the case drawn from the Tribunal's recorded findings of fact in its final order; if that statement is incomplete, remand is warranted.

---