Additional sales tax cannot extend to inter-State sales taxed under the Central Sales Tax Act where the levy is tied to State tax.

Inter-State sales taxed under the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 are governed independently of the Kerala Additional Sales Tax Act, 1978. Section 8(5) permits a State notification to exempt or reduce the rate on specified goods, while section 8(2A) applies only where the State sales tax law generally exempts goods or taxes them below four per cent. The Kerala additional sales tax, being an increment on tax payable under the State general sales tax law, does not extend to tax payable under the Central enactment, and the State provisions do not enlarge that levy.

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Issues: Whether additional sales tax under the Kerala Additional Sales Tax Act, 1978 applied to inter-State sales taxable under the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, including sales covered by the State notification issued under section 8(5) and the operation of section 8(2A).

Analysis: Inter-State sales are taxed under the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956. Section 8(5) empowers the State Government to exempt such sales or prescribe a lower rate for specified goods by notification, and section 8(2A) operates in a different field, dealing with cases where the appropriate State sales tax law exempts goods generally or subjects them to tax at a rate lower than four per cent. The additional levy under section 2 of the Kerala Additional Sales Tax Act, 1978 is an increment on tax payable under the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963, and does not attach to tax payable under the Central enactment. The two provisions of section 8 do not enlarge the scope of the State additional tax.

Conclusion: The additional sales tax under the Kerala Additional Sales Tax Act, 1978 was not exigible to inter-State sales taxable under section 8 of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956.

Ratio Decidendi: A State additional sales tax that is expressed as an increment on tax payable under the State general sales tax law cannot be levied on inter-State sales governed by the Central Sales Tax Act, where the Central statute operates independently through its own exemption and reduced-rate scheme.

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