Commercial identity governs sales tax classification of firewood, which falls under the residuary entry rather than timber.
Firewood sold for use as fuel was held to be a distinct commercial commodity, and sales tax classification had to follow its common commercial understanding rather than the buyer's use. The Kerala HC noted that the term "timber" in entry 8 of the Fifth Schedule, even with its explanatory inclusions, did not clearly cover firewood. On that basis, firewood was classified under the residuary entry 156 of the First Schedule, and the Tribunal's treatment of it as a residuary item was sustained.
Issues: Whether firewood sold for use as fuel falls under entry 8 of the Fifth Schedule to the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963, or under the residuary entry 156 of the First Schedule.
Analysis: The commodity in question was undisputedly firewood sold as fuel and not as timber. In classifying taxing entries, goods are to be understood in the sense in which they are known in common commercial parlance. The record showed that firewood is treated as a separate commercial commodity and that the expression "timber" in entry 8, even with the explanatory inclusion of woods, logs, planks and rafters, did not clearly embrace firewood. The user to which the commodity was put was not determinative, and the proper approach was to classify the article by its accepted commercial identity. On that basis, the residuary entry applied.
Conclusion: Firewood does not fall under entry 8 of the Fifth Schedule and is taxable under entry 156 of the First Schedule. The challenge by the Revenue failed.
Final Conclusion: The revision petitions were dismissed and the Tribunal's classification of firewood as a residuary item was sustained.
Ratio Decidendi: For sales tax classification, a commodity must be identified according to its common commercial understanding, and where firewood is sold and understood as such, it is not to be treated as timber merely because timber includes all kinds of wood in the statutory explanation.
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