Taxable goods exclusion under sales tax law prevents purchase tax on goods bought from exempt industrial units.

Goods bought from units enjoying exemption under a notification issued under section 49(2) of the Gujarat Sales Tax Act are outside the definition of "taxable goods" in section 2(33) because that definition expressly excludes goods on which no tax is payable under section 5, section 49, or a notification issued thereunder. Section 15B applies only when all statutory conditions are met, including purchase of taxable goods as raw materials or consumable stores. The plain wording of sections 2(33), 5 and 49 must be applied as written, and a broader notion of "generally taxable goods" cannot be imported to override the exclusion. Earlier Revenue authorities did not address this precise issue.

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Issues: Whether goods purchased from units enjoying exemption under a notification issued under section 49(2) of the Gujarat Sales Tax Act, 1969 are "taxable goods" within section 2(33) and consequently liable to purchase tax under section 15B.

Analysis: Section 15B applies only when all its ingredients are cumulatively satisfied, including that the goods purchased as raw materials or consumable stores are taxable goods. The definition in section 2(33) expressly excludes goods on the sale or purchase of which no tax is payable under section 5, section 49, or a notification issued thereunder. On the plain language of sections 2(33), 5 and 49, goods exempted by a notification under section 49(2) fall outside the ambit of taxable goods, and the words "generally taxable goods" cannot be imported into the definition so as to render the exclusionary language otiose. The earlier decisions relied upon by the Revenue did not decide this precise question of the scope of section 2(33) in the context of section 15B.

Conclusion: Goods purchased from exempt new industries under section 49(2) are not taxable goods and are not liable to purchase tax under section 15B; the levy confirmed by the Tribunal was unsustainable.

Final Conclusion: The core controversy is resolved in favour of the assessee, while the connected matters requiring factual verification are sent back for fresh decision in accordance with the law declared.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the statute defines taxable goods by an express exclusion of goods on which no tax is payable under section 49 or a notification issued thereunder, that definition must be applied as written and purchase tax cannot be levied by importing a wider notion of general taxability.

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