Common parlance controls sales tax classification: alkyl benzene sulphonate treated as a chemical, not a detergent.

In sales tax classification, a commodity must be identified by its common and commercial parlance, not merely by its chemical properties. Alkyl benzene sulphonate was held not to fall within the detergent entry because item 37 covered goods ordinarily understood and marketed as soaps or detergents used in place of soap. Although the product had detergent properties, that feature alone did not make it a detergent within the statutory sense. It was therefore classified as a chemical under the residual entry, and the Tribunal's contrary view was found unsustainable.

---

---

Issues: (i) Whether alkyl benzene sulphonate was classifiable as a detergent under item 37 of the First Schedule to the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959, or as a chemical under item 138 of the First Schedule to the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959.

Analysis: The decisive test for classification under the sales tax schedule was the common parlance understanding of the goods and their commercial identity, not merely their chemical properties. Item 37, as amended, covered soaps, soap flakes, soap powders, detergent powders and liquids, indicating goods ordinarily marketed and understood as detergents used in place of soap. Although alkyl benzene sulphonate had detergent properties, the mere possession of such properties did not make it a detergent in the sense in which that item was used in the statute. Since all chemicals possess properties and may serve different uses, the commodity had to be classified according to its ordinary commercial description. On that basis, it fell within the residual chemical entry and not within the detergent entry.

Conclusion: Alkyl benzene sulphonate was not a detergent for the purpose of item 37 and was correctly treated as a chemical under item 138.

Final Conclusion: The classification adopted by the Tribunal was unsustainable, and the assessment treating the commodity as a chemical was restored in full.

Ratio Decidendi: In sales tax classification, a commodity must be understood in its common and commercial parlance, and the presence of properties characteristic of another taxable category does not by itself alter its statutory classification.

---