Purchase tax on declared goods upheld where dealer failed to prove registered-dealer purchase and statutory exceptions.

Declared goods such as hides and skins remain subject to the U.P. Sales Tax framework, but section 3-AA limits taxation to the consumer stage and section 3-AAA applies only where a registered-dealer purchase and resale in the same form and condition are shown. The substituted section 3-AAAA fastens purchase tax in specified cases, with statutory exceptions depending on proof of the purchase source, the applicable form declarations, and whether tax has already been suffered. On the facts discussed, the dealer failed to establish these conditions, and the Tribunal's finding on the purchase source was supported by the record. Tax liability under section 3-AAAA was therefore sustained.

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Issues: Whether the dealer's sales of hides and skins were liable to tax under the U.P. Sales Tax Act when it was not established that the goods were purchased from registered dealers and when the dealer failed to prove that the goods had already suffered tax or were sold in the same form and condition.

Analysis: Hides and skins are declared goods, and section 3-AA of the U.P. Sales Tax Act restricts taxation of such goods to the point of sale to the consumer. Section 3-AAA deems certain sales to be sales to the consumer where the purchasing dealer buys from a registered dealer and resells the goods in the same form and condition, while the substituted section 3-AAAA fastens purchase tax liability in specified circumstances, subject to the statutory exceptions. The explanation to section 3-AAAA treats dressed hides and skins or tanned leather obtained by dressing or tanning raw hides and skins as being in the same form and condition. On the facts found, the dealer failed to establish that the goods sold in the relevant turnover had been purchased from registered dealers or that form 3-A had not been issued in respect of those purchases, and there was no proof that the goods had already suffered tax. The Tribunal's finding on the purchase source was supported by the record, and once that finding stood, the dealer could not claim the benefit of the statutory exceptions.

Conclusion: The sales were rightly subjected to tax under section 3-AAAA of the U.P. Sales Tax Act, and the dealer's challenge failed.

Final Conclusion: The revision was dismissed, and the tax liability determined against the dealer was sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the dealer fails to prove that the goods were purchased from registered dealers and that the statutory conditions for exemption or deeming treatment are satisfied, liability to tax under the purchase-tax provision follows notwithstanding the declared-goods character of the commodity.

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