Sale of bricks under contract includes delivery charges, and no deduction is allowed for carriage or handling expenses.

Bricks supplied under the relevant contract were treated as sales exigible to tax under the Tripura Sales Tax Act, 1976, rather than as a works contract, because the contractual terms had already been held in connected matters to create a taxable sale. The same reasoning was applied to turnover computation: no deduction was admissible for carriage, handling, loading or unloading charges incurred in delivering the bricks, as the entire consideration received for supply formed the sale price for taxation. The writ petitions therefore failed on both issues.

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Issues: (i) whether supply of bricks under the contract constituted a sale exigible to tax under the Tripura Sales Tax Act, 1976, or a works contract; (ii) whether the supplier was entitled to deduction of carriage, handling, loading and unloading charges from the taxable turnover.

Issue (i): whether supply of bricks under the contract constituted a sale exigible to tax under the Tripura Sales Tax Act, 1976, or a works contract.

Analysis: The supplies were made in pursuance of contract agreements and the same contractual terms had already been considered in connected matters. The earlier decision on identical facts had held that such supplies amounted to sales exigible to tax under the Act.

Conclusion: The issue was decided against the petitioner and in favour of the revenue.

Issue (ii): whether the supplier was entitled to deduction of carriage, handling, loading and unloading charges from the taxable turnover.

Analysis: The earlier decision on the same contractual arrangement had held that no deduction was admissible for expenditure incurred in carrying the goods to the place of delivery, loading, unloading and allied expenses, and that the entire amount received for supply of bricks formed the sale price for taxation.

Conclusion: The issue was decided against the petitioner and in favour of the revenue.

Final Conclusion: The writ petitions failed on both issues and were dismissed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where bricks are supplied under a contract found to be a sale, the whole consideration received, including delivery-related expenses, constitutes the taxable sale price and no separate deduction is admissible for carriage or handling charges.

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