Agriculturist as dealer: rubber sales may attract sales tax if carried on as business with profit motive and organised sales.

An agriculturist growing and selling rubber may still be treated as a dealer if the sales are carried on as a business, with profit motive and an organised selling apparatus. The Court held that cultivation alone does not exclude sales tax liability; the decisive factors are the trading character of the sales activity, the existence of a profit motive, and an established selling organisation. It also noted that the burden lies on the State to prove that the activity amounts to business, and the record showed a substantial plantation, a sales office and an admitted selling organisation. The revision petition was rejected and the assessment authority was directed to complete the assessment after hearing the parties.

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Issues: Whether an agriculturist growing and selling rubber can be treated as a dealer carrying on business for purposes of sales tax liability.

Analysis: The Court held that the mere fact that the assessee was engaged in growing rubber did not exclude the possibility of its being a dealer. The relevant considerations were whether the activity of sale was carried on as a trading activity, whether there was a profit motive, and whether the assessee had an established selling organisation sufficient to indicate business activity. The Court also noted that the burden lay on the State to establish that the sales activity amounted to business, but the material on record showed that the assessee had a substantial plantation, an office for sales, and an admitted selling organisation. The earlier remand order was treated only as a remand and not as a conclusive finding against the assessee.

Conclusion: The assessee was not entitled to interference and the matter was allowed to proceed on the basis that it could be examined as a dealer liable to sales tax if business activity was established.

Final Conclusion: The revision petition was rejected, and the assessment authority was directed to complete the assessment after hearing the parties.

Ratio Decidendi: An agriculturist may be liable as a dealer if the sale of its produce is carried on as a business with profit motive and an organised selling apparatus, and the burden rests on the revenue to establish those elements.

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