TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1985 (9) TMI 327
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....ities of containers, wooden boxes, Polythene papers and other packing materials in which the paste is packed for export. There is no dispute that tobacco for hookah exported by the petitioners is exempt from sales tax by virtue of section 6(l) of the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941 (hereinafter described as the Act), as it comes within item 18 of Schedule I to the said Act. There is also no dispute that the petitioner is a "dealer" as defined in section 2(c) of the Act as it carries on business of selling goods in West Bengal or of purchasing goods in West Bengal for execution of contracts. It should be noted in this connection that the tobacco paste sold by the petitioners is not manufactured by them. The petitioners buy tobacco pa....
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.... Schedule I" Section 8(2) provides: "8. (2) The provisions of sub-sections (3) and (4) and clause (a) of sub-section (6) of section 7 shall apply in respect of applications for registration under this section." Section 8(3) provides: "8. (3) Every dealer who has been registered upon application made under this section shall, for so long as his registration remains in force, be liable to pay tax under this Act." Section 7(6) provides: "7. (6) When- (a) any business in respect of which a certificate has been granted to a dealer on an application made, has been discontinued, or (b) a dealer has ceased to be liable to pay tax under section 4 and section 6C of this Act, the Commissioner shall cancel the regi....
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.... The case of the Commercial Tax Officer, the respondent No. 1, is that the petitioners were not entitled to purchase tin containers and other packing materials free of tax or at a concessional rate of tax. It has further been stated by the respondent No. I that the petitioners were not entitled to obtain declaration forms Nos. XXIV and XXXIII for the purpose of purchasing packing materials for packing hookah tobacco which was exempted from taxation under section 6 of the Act read with Schedule I, item 18. It has been emphasised that the petitioners purchased goods for resale and as such the ratio of the Supreme Court judgment in the case of India Tobacco Co. Ltd. v. Commercial Tax Officer [1975] 35 STC 95 (SC) had no application to the cas....
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....on. Will that object be achieved by withdrawing concessional rates of tax in respect of the containers in which the tax-free commodities are sold? For example, bread and salt have been included in Schedule I to the Act. The object obviously is not to tax the daily necessities of the common man. If a dealer in bread and salt has to pay additional tax on the packaging because no sales tax has been levied on bread and salt the prices will automatically go up. What is gained in the swing will be lost in the roundabout. It is well-settled that in a taxing statute the question whether any commodity is taxable or not must be decided by the clear words of the statute and not by reference to the spirit of the statute or any supposed intendment of....
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.... dealer during any period which remains after deducting therefrom- (a) his turnover during that period on (i) the sale of goods declared tax-free under section 6 (ii) sales to a registered dealer............ The other part of section 5(2) is not relevant for the purpose of this case. Therefore, the Act envisages computation of the gross turnover of a dealer by including therein the value of various goods mentioned in Schedule I to the Act which has been declared tax-free under section 6. After the computation of gross turnover is made at the stage of assessment, turnover will be computed by excluding therefrom, inter alia, value of goods declared tax-free under section 6. The distinction between exemption of tax and non....
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....ey are not liable to any such imposition of tax. If they are thus not liable to tax, no tax can be levied or imposed on them and they do not come within the purview of the Act at all. The very fact of their non-liability to tax is sufficient to exclude them from the calculation of the gross turnover as well as the net turnover on which sales tax can be levied or imposed." In the instant case, there cannot be any dispute that the goods mentioned in Schedule I to the Act has to be included in the gross turnover. At the stage of the assessment the turnover in respect of the goods included in Schedule I will have to be excluded in calculating taxable turnover just as sales to a registered dealer will have to be excluded. It is also to be bor....