Post-sale software customisation charges are excluded from sale price and turnover under VAT law.

Customisation charges received after delivery of software and after completion of the sale were held not to form part of turnover or sale price under the Kerala Value Added Tax Act. The statutory concept of sale price was confined to consideration received or receivable for the sale of goods, including sums charged for acts done in respect of the goods at or before delivery. Because the charges related to post-sale customisation services, and the sale proceeds had already been disclosed separately with service tax paid on those charges, they could not be treated as sale consideration. The Revenue's revisional challenge therefore failed.

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Issues: Whether customisation charges received after sale of software formed part of the dealer's turnover or sale price under the Kerala Value Added Tax Act.

Analysis: The charges were received after delivery of the goods and after the sale had been completed. The sale proceeds had already been disclosed in the return, and service tax had been paid on the customisation charges. On the statutory definition of sale price, only consideration received or receivable for the sale of goods, including sums charged for acts done in respect of the goods at or before delivery, would be covered. Amounts received post-sale for customisation services did not satisfy that requirement and could not be treated as part of sale consideration.

Conclusion: The customisation charges were not part of turnover or sale price, and the revisional challenge by the Revenue failed.

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