Business turnover includes scrap sales arising from regular operations, making unserviceable articles taxable as incidental business transactions.

Wide definitions of "business" and "dealer" under the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 were treated as broad enough to cover sales of surplus, scrap, unserviceable or discarded articles arising in the course of a regular business. The controlling principle applied was that such sales can form part of business turnover even if the articles are not the assessee's principal trading stock. The Tribunal's reliance on Andhra Pradesh authority was rejected for not reflecting the wider statutory setting and the Burmah Shell line of decisions. The sales of unserviceable articles were therefore taxable as incidental to the assessee's business.

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Issues: Whether sales of unserviceable or scrap articles, though not in the assessee's line of business, were taxable as transactions incidental or ancillary to its business under the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959.

Analysis: The statutory definitions of "business" and "dealer" under the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 were treated as of wide amplitude. The controlling principle applied was that if an assessee carries on a regular business, the sale of surplus, scrap, unserviceable or discarded articles arising in the course of that business can still constitute business turnover, even where those articles are not the assessee's principal trading stock. The Tribunal had erred in relying on the Andhra Pradesh line of authority without accounting for the wider statutory setting under the Tamil Nadu Act and the consistent decisions applying the Burmah Shell principle to similar transactions.

Conclusion: The sales of unserviceable articles were held taxable as incidental to the assessee's business, and the assessee was liable to tax.

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