Separate freight and pumping charges excluded from taxable turnover when invoiced apart from sale price and treated as post-sale services.

Freight and pumping charges separately shown in invoices for ready mix concrete were held not to form part of taxable turnover where the sale documents and purchase orders reflected ex-works delivery, the charges were distinctly accounted for, and no consolidated sale price was shown. The first appellate authority treated transportation and pumping as post-sale services on the documentary record, and the HC noted that the Tribunal erred in ignoring those factual findings and in relying on another decision without applying the assessee's transaction pattern. The Tribunal's view was set aside and the charges were excluded from turnover.

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Issues: Whether freight and pumping charges separately shown in the invoices for ready mix concrete were liable to be included in the taxable turnover.

Analysis: The sale documents and purchase orders indicated ex-works delivery, and the freight and pumping charges were separately shown in the invoices and accounted for distinctly from the sale price. The first appellate authority had found, on the basis of the documents and the transaction pattern, that the subsequent transportation and pumping were post-sale services and that no material showed collection of a consolidated price. The Tribunal failed to examine the factual findings of the first appellate authority and relied only on another decision without considering the assessee's own earlier case or the applicability of those facts to the present transaction.

Conclusion: The freight and pumping charges were not includible in the taxable turnover, and the finding of the Tribunal was set aside in favour of the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: Where freight or similar delivery-related charges are separately charged and the sale price is not consolidated, such amounts do not form part of the sale price or taxable turnover.

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