Separately charged freight is deductible from turnover, and nondisclosure in the return does not defeat the statutory deduction.

Separately charged freight or delivery charges are deductible from gross turnover where the contract price is not all-inclusive and the purchaser bears the delivery cost. On the factual finding that transportation was payable separately and represented delivery cost at the purchaser's site, the deduction under section 5(2)(A)(a)(iii) applied. The dealer's failure to disclose the receipts in the return did not prevent reassessment from determining true gross and taxable turnover, and the authority remained bound to grant deductions admissible in law. The charges were therefore not taxable as part of the turnover.

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Issues: Whether transportation charges, when separately charged, are deductible from the gross turnover under the Orissa Sales Tax Act even though the dealer had not disclosed such receipts in the original return and had been assessed for suppressed turnover.

Analysis: The appellate authority's factual finding showed that the contract price was not an all-inclusive sale price and that the freight component was separately payable by the purchaser. On those findings, the transport charges represented the cost of delivery of goods at the purchaser's site and fell within the deduction contemplated by section 5(2)(A)(a)(iii). The omission to disclose such receipts in the return did not relieve the assessing authority of its statutory duty, while making a reassessment under section 12(8), to determine the true gross and taxable turnover and to grant deductions admissible in law.

Conclusion: The separately charged transportation charges were deductible from the gross turnover and were not liable to tax as part of the taxable turnover. The finding was in favour of the assessee and against the Revenue.

Ratio Decidendi: In determining taxable turnover, a taxing authority must allow a legally admissible deduction for separately charged freight or delivery charges, and the assessee's failure to disclose such turnover does not bar the statutory deduction.

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