Voluntary sales tax registration does not defeat hotel and restaurant turnover exemptions where taxable turnover remains the governing measure.

Voluntary registration under the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, 1954 does not by itself make a dealer liable to tax on gross turnover. Tax liability remains linked to taxable turnover, and the exemption notifications for hotel and restaurant turnover applied by reference to the statutory turnover thresholds without excluding voluntarily registered dealers. Denying the exemption solely because registration was obtained voluntarily would create an unsupported distinction. The voluntarily registered dealer was therefore entitled to the benefit of the exemption notifications, and tax could not be levied on gross turnover on that ground.

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Issues: Whether a dealer who has obtained voluntary registration under the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, 1954 is entitled to the benefit of the exemption notifications governing hotel and restaurant turnover, or is liable to be taxed on gross turnover irrespective of the exemption limits.

Analysis: Section 6A of the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, 1954 provides for voluntary registration where the dealer's turnover is likely to exceed the limit specified in section 3, and once registered the dealer becomes liable to tax in accordance with the Act as a registered dealer. The Act does not create any separate rule making a voluntarily registered dealer liable to tax on the entire gross turnover merely because registration was sought voluntarily. Tax liability remains tied to the statutory concept of taxable turnover, and the exemption notifications issued under section 5 applied to hotels and similar establishments by reference to annual gross turnover and taxable turnover. The notifications did not exclude voluntarily registered dealers. To deny the exemption solely because of voluntary registration would create an unsupported and discriminatory distinction.

Conclusion: A voluntarily registered dealer is entitled to the benefit of the exemption notifications, and tax cannot be levied on gross turnover merely on the ground of voluntary registration. The revision was therefore without merit.

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