Freight charges included in turnover where no evidence showed they were separate post-sale reimbursement or excluded from sale price.

Freight charges separately shown in the invoice were held includible in turnover where the assessee produced no contract or other material showing that the freight was a distinct post-sale reimbursement or that the sale was completed before transport. The court applied the governing test of whether title and sale passed at the seller's premises or only on delivery, and found that, in the absence of an express stipulation or supporting evidence, the freight formed part of the sale consideration. The constitutional challenge to reading down the turnover definition was rejected in revision, and the statutory definition was applied as enacted.

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Issues: Whether freight charges separately shown in the sale invoice formed part of the assessee's turnover and were liable to sales tax.

Analysis: The assessee relied only on the sale invoice and produced no contract, agreement, or other material to show that the sale was completed at its premises or that freight was an independent post-sale reimbursement payable by the purchaser. Applying the governing test, the relevant enquiry was whether the sale was complete before transport or only upon delivery at the customer's destination. In the absence of evidence of an express stipulation or of completion of sale at the assessee's premises, the freight charged in the invoice and collected as part of the total price was treated as part of the consideration for the sale. The argument that the definition of turnover should be read down on constitutional grounds was not accepted, because the constitutionality of the statute could not be examined in the revision proceedings and the statutory definition had to be applied as enacted.

Conclusion: Freight charges were includible in turnover. The assessee's challenge failed and the decision was against the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the assessee produces no material showing that freight was a separate post-sale reimbursement or that sale was complete before transport, freight charges collected as part of the invoice price form part of turnover under the statutory definition.

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