Layout design charges excluded from assessable value where they related only to installation planning, not product design.

Layout design charges for indicating where lighting fittings were to be installed were not part of the assessable value, because they related to installation planning rather than design of the manufactured product itself. Charges for designing the product could have been includible, but that was not the factual position here. Authorities relied on by the Revenue were treated as inapplicable on these facts, so the duty demand and consequential penalties were set aside.

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Issues: Whether charges for preparing layout designs were includible in the assessable value of the lighting fittings, and whether the duty demand and penalties based on such inclusion were sustainable.

Analysis: The disputed charges were found to relate to preparation of layout designs indicating where the light fittings were to be installed, not to the design of the final product itself. Such layout design charges did not contribute to the value of the manufactured lighting fittings. Charges for designing the product would have been includible, but the present case involved only layout design charges. The decisions relied on by the Revenue were held inapplicable on these facts.

Conclusion: The layout design charges were not includible in the assessable value. The duty demand and consequential penalties were set aside in favour of the assessee.

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