Specific tax concession for rubber purchases used in finished rubber products prevails over a general schedule entry.

A specific concessional tax notification governing the purchase of rubber by manufacturers of finished rubber products applied to Hawai chappals, which were treated as finished rubber products. The purchase turnover of rubber used in manufacture therefore fell within S.R.O. No. 641/81 and qualified for the reduced 3% rate for the relevant assessment year. The later S.R.O. No. 1516 of 1990 did not apply to that year, and the general entry in the First Schedule could not override the specific concession.

---

---

Issues: Whether the assessee, a manufacturer of Hawai chappals using rubber, was entitled to concessional rate of tax at 3% on the purchase turnover of rubber under S.R.O. No. 641/81 for the assessment year 1988-89, and whether the general entry in the First Schedule displaced that concession.

Analysis: S.R.O. No. 641/81 granted reduction in the rate of tax payable on the purchase of rubber by manufacturers of finished rubber products within the State for use in the manufacture of finished rubber products, reducing the rate from 5% to 3%. The assessee's product, Hawai chappals, was treated as a finished rubber product, and the purchase turnover of rubber used in its manufacture fell within the language of the notification. The later S.R.O. No. 1516 of 1990 was not applicable to the assessment year in question. The general reference to entry No. 76 of the First Schedule could not override the specific concession created by S.R.O. No. 641/81.

Conclusion: The assessee was entitled to the concessional rate of tax under S.R.O. No. 641/81 for the assessment year 1988-89.

Ratio Decidendi: A specific tax concession granted by notification for purchase of rubber used in manufacturing finished rubber products prevails over a general schedule entry and applies according to its own terms for the relevant assessment year.

---