Taxable turnover excludes excise duty not payable by the purchaser, even if shown separately in the invoice.

Excise duty shown in the invoice was excluded from taxable turnover under the U.P. Sales Tax Act and the Central Sales Tax Act because the purchaser neither paid nor was liable to pay that component under the supply scheme and contract. The statutory definitions of sale price, purchase price and turnover were applied to the amount actually paid or payable by the purchaser as consideration for the goods. Where the duty was reimbursed to the manufacturer by a third party and did not form part of the purchaser's contractual liability, it was not includible in turnover. The assessment had therefore to proceed on the net amount payable by the purchaser.

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Issues: Whether excise duty, though shown in the invoice but neither paid nor payable by the purchaser under the supply scheme and contract, could be included in the assessee's taxable turnover under the U.P. Sales Tax Act and the Central Sales Tax Act.

Analysis: The relevant charging provisions fastened tax on the dealer's turnover of sales or purchases, and the statutory definitions of "purchase price", "turnover", "sale", "sale price" and "turnover" under the State and Central enactments emphasised the amount actually paid or payable by the purchaser as consideration for the goods. On the facts, the supply scheme contemplated reimbursement of excise duty to the manufacturer by the Central Government, and the contract specifically showed that the purchaser was not liable to pay that component. The excise duty therefore did not form part of the price or consideration payable by the purchaser. The earlier decisions distinguishing cases where the purchaser actually bore the burden of freight, tax, or duty did not assist the revenue, because those authorities proceeded on payment or liability by the purchaser, which was absent here.

Conclusion: The excise duty component was not includible in the assessee's taxable turnover; the revisions were liable to be allowed and the assessments had to proceed on the net amount payable by the purchaser.

Ratio Decidendi: For sales tax purposes, only the amount actually paid or payable by the purchaser as consideration for the sale forms part of taxable turnover, and a duty component reimbursed to the seller by a third party without being payable by the purchaser is excluded.

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