Printed packaging goods valuation includes proportionate art work and cylinder-making charges when assessed as cleared from the factory.

Where excisable goods are cleared in printed form for packaging use, assessable value is determined on the basis of the goods as they leave the factory. On that footing, the proportionate cost of art work and cylinder-making charges attributable to the printed form is includible in valuation. The Tribunal treated the printing as part of the goods' cleared condition, and noted that a similar approach had been adopted earlier, subject to realistic apportionment of cylinder cost. The assessee's challenge to inclusion of those expenses therefore failed, and the exclusion of the disputed costs from valuation was set aside.

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Issues: Whether, in the valuation of printed polyethylene multilayer film, the proportionate cost of art work and cylinder-making charges was includible in the assessable value.

Analysis: The goods were cleared in printed form and were used for packaging. The printing was not treated as the primary utility factor in the same sense as printed aluminium labels. The proper basis of assessment was the value of the goods in the form in which they left the factory. On that footing, the cost of art work and the cylinder-making charges formed part of the assessable value. The Tribunal also noted that a similar approach had been adopted in the earlier decision concerning inclusion of a proportionate cylinder cost, subject to realistic apportionment.

Conclusion: The proportionate cost of art work and cylinder-making charges was rightly included in the assessable value, and the assessee's challenge failed.

Final Conclusion: The order excluding the disputed costs from valuation was set aside and the departmental appeal succeeded.

Ratio Decidendi: Where excisable goods are cleared in printed form for packaging use, the assessable value is to be determined on the basis of the goods as cleared from the factory, and the proportionate cost of art work and printing-cylinder preparation attributable to that form is includible in valuation.

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