Dealer-recovered publicity and sales promotion not includible in assessable value where treated as separate trading activity.

Amounts recovered from dealers for publicity material and joint advertisement or sales promotion expenses were treated as not includible in assessable value because they related to a distinct trading activity and dealer-shared promotional expenditure. Applying prior precedent, the recovered sums for supplying publicity materials and for sales promotion were excluded from the assessable value, as the dealers also derived benefit from those arrangements. The stated result was that the items in question were not part of the assessable value and the appeal succeeded.

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Issues: Whether the cost of publicity material supplied to dealers and the advertisement or sales promotion expenses recovered from them were includible in the assessable value.

Analysis: The issue was treated as covered by prior precedent holding that amounts recovered from dealers towards joint advertisement and publicity material, where the dealers also derived benefit and the supply of publicity materials constituted a distinct trading activity, were not includible in assessable value. Applying that reasoning, the recovered amounts for publicity material and sales promotion could not form part of the assessable value.

Conclusion: The items in question were held not includible in the assessable value, and the appeal succeeded.

Ratio Decidendi: Amounts recovered from dealers towards publicity material and sales promotion expenses are not includible in assessable value where they represent a distinct trading activity or dealer-shared promotional expenditure.

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