Sales tax on customised silver coins: finished goods sale, no profit motive defence, and no lower rate as specie.

Silver coins made from the assessee's own silver and produced to the purchaser's specifications were treated as finished goods sold, not as a works contract, so turnover was exigible to sales tax. The absence of profit motive did not take the transaction outside the charging provision because the existence of a sale was the decisive factor. The coins were also held not to qualify as specie for the lower rate, since they were manufactured products and not specie merely because they were made from silver. The Tribunal's findings were affirmed and the tax cases dismissed.

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Issues: (i) whether the turnover from manufacture and sale of silver coins made to the purchaser's specifications was exigible to sales tax as a sale of finished goods rather than a works contract; (ii) whether absence of profit motive took the transaction outside the charging provision for sales tax; and (iii) whether the coins were liable to be assessed at the lower rate applicable to specie.

Issue (i): whether the turnover from manufacture and sale of silver coins made to the purchaser's specifications was exigible to sales tax as a sale of finished goods rather than a works contract.

Analysis: The assessee used its own silver to manufacture coins according to the purchaser's specifications. The transaction was therefore treated as one of sale of completed goods and not as a purely works contract.

Conclusion: The turnover was taxable as a sale of finished goods and not as a works contract, against the assessee.

Issue (ii): whether absence of profit motive took the transaction outside the charging provision for sales tax.

Analysis: For sales tax, the existence of a sale is determinative. Whether the seller earned profit from the transaction was held to be immaterial once a sale was established.

Conclusion: Profit motive was not required to attract sales tax, against the assessee.

Issue (iii): whether the coins were liable to be assessed at the lower rate applicable to specie.

Analysis: The coins were manufactured out of old silver and silver ornaments and were held to be manufactured products, not specie. The lower rate was therefore unavailable.

Conclusion: The assessee was not entitled to the lower rate for specie, against the assessee.

Final Conclusion: The findings of the Tribunal on all the disputed questions were affirmed, and the tax cases were dismissed.

Ratio Decidendi: A transaction is taxable as a sale where the assessee supplies its own material and delivers manufactured finished goods, and the absence of profit motive does not prevent sales tax from attaching; a manufactured product is not treated as specie for lower-rate assessment merely because it is made from silver.

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