Transport charges included in taxable turnover where delivery was at purchaser's site and no separate freight arrangement was proved.

Transport charges collected in connection with delivery of bricks were treated as part of the taxable turnover because the records accepted by the Tribunal showed delivery at the purchasers' site and the price included transport charges. The assessee's claim of a separate freight arrangement was unsupported by the sales records and the reply to the pre-assessment notice, and no written agreement or convincing explanation had been produced earlier. Later-produced sale bills were not admitted, and reliance on the control order did not alter the character of the amounts collected. The inclusion of the transport charges in taxable turnover was therefore upheld.

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Issues: Whether transport charges collected in connection with delivery of bricks formed part of the taxable turnover as pre-sale charges.

Analysis: The assessee claimed that freight was separately charged and that the amounts represented only transport charges. However, the sales records and the reply to the pre-assessment notice did not support a distinct delivery arrangement, and no written agreement or convincing explanation was produced at the earlier stages. The later-produced sale bills were not admitted, and the reference to the control order did not assist because it had not been relied upon before the authorities and was not shown to alter the character of the amounts collected. On the materials accepted by the Tribunal, the deliveries were treated as having been made at the purchasers' site, with the price including transport charges.

Conclusion: The transport charges were rightly treated as part of the taxable turnover and the challenge to their inclusion failed.

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