Deeming provisions under sales tax law cannot override the express purchase tax rate fixed in the charging schedule.

On discontinuance of business, section 15 of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959 deems a dealer holding taxable goods purchased on certificate liable to purchase tax as if liable under section 14, but only for the statutory purpose of applying the relevant purchase tax rate. The text explains that the express rate of purchase tax is fixed independently in column 5 of entry 22 of Schedule E, while columns 3 and 4 concern sales tax and general sales tax. The deeming fiction cannot be extended to replace the specific purchase tax rate with the aggregate rate under section 14. The applicable rate on the stock was therefore 3 per cent, not 6 per cent.

---

---

Issues: Whether, on the discontinuance of business, purchase tax under section 15 of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959, on stock of goods purchased on declarations in form 16 had to be levied at the rate of 3 per cent specified in column 5 of entry 22 of Schedule E, or at the aggregate rate of 6 per cent under section 14 read with Schedule E.

Analysis: Section 15(1) creates a deeming fiction that, where a dealer discontinues business and holds taxable goods purchased on certificate, purchase tax becomes payable as if the dealer had become liable under section 14. The controlling words in section 15(1), however, are that the tax is to be levied at the "relevant rate of purchase tax applicable thereto". Reading section 15 with the structure of Chapter II and Schedule E shows that the rate of purchase tax is independently fixed in column 5, while columns 3 and 4 relate to sales tax and general sales tax. The deeming provision in section 15 cannot be carried beyond its purpose so as to ignore the express rate prescribed for purchase tax. The reference to section 14 serves the statutory scheme, including the deduction mechanism in section 10(1)(i), but does not convert the aggregate of sales tax and general sales tax into the rate of purchase tax under section 15.

Conclusion: The rate of purchase tax under section 15 on the stock in question was 3 per cent as specified in column 5 of entry 22 of Schedule E, not 6 per cent under section 14.

Ratio Decidendi: A deeming provision that treats a dealer as liable under another section must be confined to its statutory purpose and cannot override the express rate of tax specifically prescribed by the charging provision itself.

---