Sale of bullion completed on delivery; later price fixation did not defer sales tax assessment.

Bullion delivered to exporters against substantial payment, with the purchasers free to use the goods for manufacture and export, constituted a sale under section 2(xxi) of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963. The taxable event was completed on delivery under the contract, so subsequent fixation of the final price and later raising of the invoice did not defer assessment to the following year. The transaction was therefore assessable in the year of delivery, and the assessment challenge failed.

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Issues: Whether the sale of bullion to exporters was liable to be assessed in the year of delivery of goods or in the subsequent year when the final price was fixed and invoice was raised.

Analysis: The bullion was delivered to the exporters against receipt of substantial payment, and the purchasers were free to use the goods for manufacture and export. On those facts, the transaction amounted to a sale within the meaning of section 2(xxi) of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963. The subsequent fixation of price and raising of invoice did not defer the taxable event, because the sale was completed on delivery under the contract.

Conclusion: The transaction was rightly assessed in the year in which delivery was given, and the challenge to the assessment fails.

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