TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1958 (6) TMI 3
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....another notice it was also called upon to produce its accounts beginning from 1st April, 1950, to 31st March, 1954, with reference to its aforesaid business. The petitioner was thereafter also served with a notice under section 19 of the Act, under which the Sales Tax Officer is empowered to assess a dealer in case of his failure to get himself registered and if the officer has information in his possession that the dealer was evading payment of tax. The petitioners objected to the notices in question and denied its liability to pay sales tax or to get itself registered under the Act. It is submitted that it was not doing any business of selling or supplying goods, it was simply a building contractor and undertook contracts for construction....
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....for cash or deferred payment or other valuable consideration", amongst others, the construction of any building or other immovable property. Therefore according to the contention of the department the business carried on by the petitioner in execution of a contract is also included within the definition of "sale " as given in the Assam Sales Tax Act and as such its turnover is liable to assessment. Reference is also made to the word "sale price" as defined in sub-section (13) of section 2 in the said Act, where also under clause (b) it says that "sale price" means "the amount payable to a dealer as valuable consideration for the carrying out of any contract, less such fraction of such amount as represents the prescribed proportion of the co....
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....lso added to the word "turnover" in section 2(i) of the Madras Act which runs as follows: "Subject to such conditions and restrictions, if any, as may be prescribed in this behalfthe amount for which goods are sold shall, in relation to a works contract, be deemed to be the amount payable to the dealer for carrying out such contract, less such portion as may be prescribed of such amount, representing the usual proportion of the cost of labour to the cost of materials used in carrying out such contract." It is significant that in substance these words are very similar to the words occurring in the definition of "sale price " in the Assam Act. Their Lordships after a consideration of the above provisions held that the expression "sale of goo....
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....hich is one and indivisible, and therefore the materials or goods that may have been supplied by the petitioner in the execution of those contracts would not fall within the definition of sale and as such were not assessable to tax under the Act. If, however, there exist distinct and separate contracts, one for the transfer of materials for money consideration and the other for payment of remuneration for services and for work done, the position would be different; and in that case the department would be competent to levy tax on the sale and supply of the materials which in fact were supplied under different agreements altogether independently of the building contract. Similar observations were made by a Division Bench of this Court in dis....