Turnover tax as an independent levy remains payable despite nil sales tax liability under the sales tax deductions scheme.

Turnover tax under section 6B of the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941 was treated as a separate and self-contained levy on gross turnover, distinct from sales tax under sections 4 and 5. The deductions available for sales tax under section 5(2) did not govern liability under section 6B, because the only permissible deductions for turnover tax were those expressly provided in section 6B(2). The phrase "in addition to" in section 6B(1)(a) indicated that turnover tax was an additional impost and was payable even where sales tax liability was reduced to nil. The demand of turnover tax on the retailers was therefore upheld.

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Issues: Whether turnover tax under section 6B of the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941 was payable by retailers of Indian-made foreign liquor notwithstanding the deductions allowed in section 5(2) and the shift of sales tax to the first point of sale.

Analysis: The scheme of the Act distinguished between sales tax under section 4 read with section 5 and turnover tax under section 6B. Section 5(2) governed taxable turnover for sales tax, whereas section 6B created a separate and self-contained levy on gross turnover, with its own deductions specified exclusively in section 6B(2). The words "in addition to" in section 6B(1)(a) indicated that turnover tax was an additional impost and did not make its levy dependent on the actual payability of sales tax under section 5 or section 6D. Even if deductions under section 5(2) reduced the taxable turnover to nil for sales tax purposes, that had no effect on liability under section 6B.

Conclusion: Turnover tax remained payable by the retailers, and the challenge to its demand failed.

Final Conclusion: The application was rejected, and the demand of turnover tax on sales effected during the relevant period was upheld as a valid levy under the separate turnover tax provision.

Ratio Decidendi: Turnover tax under section 6B is an independent levy on gross turnover, governed only by the deductions expressly provided in that section, and it is payable even where no sales tax is ultimately payable under section 5.

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