Popular meaning controls tax classification: biscuits are not confectionery, so the higher rate could not apply.

Biscuits were held not to fall within the expression "confectionery" for sales tax purposes because the term, being undefined in the Act, had to be given its popular and commercial meaning. In common trade usage, confectionery refers to sweetmeats and similar sweet preparations, while biscuits are ordinarily dry baked articles in which sugar is only a minor ingredient, and salted biscuits may contain none. The distinction in ordinary parlance and trade usage was treated as decisive, and taxing provisions were held to apply only where the language clearly and unambiguously covers the item. The petitioners' claim succeeded.

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Issues: Whether biscuits fall within the expression "confectionery" for the purpose of levy of sales tax under section 3-A of the U.P. Sales Tax Act.

Analysis: The expression "confectionery" was not defined in the Act and therefore had to be understood in its popular and commercial sense, as commonly understood in trade circles by persons dealing with the subject-matter. On that approach, confectionery is essentially associated with sweetmeats and similar sweet preparations, whereas biscuit is ordinarily understood as a dry baked article in which sugar is only a minor ingredient, and salted biscuits may contain no sugar at all. The distinction between biscuits and confectionery is also recognized in common parlance and in trade usage, and the mere possibility of fancy biscuits with confectionery on top does not merge the two categories. In taxing statutes, an item can be brought to tax only when the language clearly and unambiguously covers it.

Conclusion: Biscuits are not confectionery, and the rate applicable to confectionery could not be applied to biscuits. The claim of the petitioners succeeded.

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