Tax classification of plaster of paris: not exempt as gypsum and taxable under the residuary schedule.

Plaster of paris was held not to be exempt as gypsum under Schedule A of the Punjab Value Added Tax Act, 2005 because the exemption for gypsum applies only when used as a fertiliser, and plaster of paris is neither a fertiliser nor covered by that use. It also did not qualify for 4% taxation under Schedule B as a sulphate, because that entry applies to sulphates used as industrial inputs or packing materials, which plaster of paris is not. As it fell under neither Schedule A nor Schedule B, it was treated as goods not mentioned in any other Schedule and became taxable under Schedule F.

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Issues: Whether plaster of paris was exempt from tax as gypsum under entry 16 of Schedule A of the Punjab Value Added Tax Act, 2005, or alternatively taxable at 4% as a sulphate under entry 58 of Schedule B, and if neither applied, whether it was taxable under Schedule F.

Analysis: Entry 16 of Schedule A grants exemption to fertilizers, including gypsum, and the exemption is confined to gypsum used as a fertilizer. POP and gypsum may be chemically similar, but their uses are different, and POP cannot be treated as a fertilizer. The order holding that POP is not gypsum had already attained finality, and the remand by the Tribunal was only for determination of the rate of tax. Entry 58 of Schedule B covers industrial inputs and packing materials, and the listed sulphates fall within that taxable class only if the goods are used as industrial inputs or packing material. POP is neither an industrial input nor a packing material. Since POP does not fall under Schedule A or Schedule B, it is covered by Schedule F as goods not mentioned in any other Schedule.

Conclusion: POP was not exempt as gypsum and did not qualify for 4% taxation as a sulphate under Schedule B; it was taxable under Schedule F at 12.5% and the appeal failed.

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