Optional set-off under trade tax law fails when the assessee charges full tax instead of claiming deduction at sale stage.

Section 4-BB of the U.P. Trade Tax Act, 1948 allowed set-off only against tax payable on the sale of notified goods, and the benefit had to be worked out by deduction when that sale tax became payable. The relevant notifications made the concession optional; by charging full tax on the sale of tubular poles instead of deducting the tax paid on raw material, the assessee was treated as having opted out of the scheme. A later claim at the assessment stage could not revive a set-off that had not been taken in the manner and at the time required by the statutory scheme.

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Issues: Whether the assessee, after charging full tax on sale of notified goods and claiming the set-off only at the assessment stage, remained entitled to the benefit of set-off under Section 4-BB of the U.P. Trade Tax Act, 1948.

Analysis: The set-off under Section 4-BB was available only against tax payable on the sale of notified goods and had to be worked out by deduction at the stage when such sale tax became payable. The relevant notifications made the benefit optional, and the assessee, by choosing to charge full tax on the sale of tubular poles instead of deducting the tax paid on raw material, effectively opted out of the scheme. A later claim during assessment could not revive a benefit that had not been availed at the time contemplated by the statutory scheme.

Conclusion: The assessee was not entitled to claim the set-off at the assessment stage after having charged full tax on sale of the goods, and the claim failed.

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