TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2008 (9) TMI 899
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....12 per cent, on the ground that the same would fall under item No. 8 of the Fifth Schedule to the Act. The first appellate authority has confirmed the quantification made by the assessing authority. In the second appeal filed by the respondents, the Appellate Tribunal has come to the conclusion, that, the firewood does not fall under entry 8 of the Fifth Schedule and therefore, requires to be classified as residuary item under entry 156 of the First Schedule to the Act and taxable at six per cent. It is the correctness or otherwise of the findings of the Tribunal that is being questioned by the Revenue in these two revision cases. In S.T. Revision Case No. 18 of 2005, the respondent/assessee is a forest contractor. While completing the ass....
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....: "Whether, on the facts and circumstances of the case, the Tribunal is justified in its finding that firewood is an unclassified item and will not fall under entry 8 of the Fifth Schedule to the Act?" The relevant entries for the relevant assessment years to be taken note of are as under: Entry 8 of the Fifth Schedule: Explanation.-Timber includes all kinds of woods, standing trees, logs, planks, rafters of any size or variety. Historical data Period: Rate Entry No. Point of levy From April 1, 1993 to March 31, 1994 4/4/8 Sch. V/8 Refer Schedule From April 1, 1994 to March 31, 1995 6/2/8 Sch. V/8 Refer Schedule From April 1, 1995 10/2/12 Sch. V/8 Refer Schedule Entry 156 is as under: 156. All other goods not coming u....
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....nce and commercial parlance. The Fifth Schedule of the KGST Act and the Explanation thereto does not treat timber as firewood. The Explanation says: 'Timber includes all kinds of wood, standing trees, logs, planks, rafters, of any size or variety'. It is a fact that this Explanation was not in the statute book during the year 1994-95 and the assessment was made on February 25, 2000 without looking into the statutory position during the year 1994-95. Even otherwise, timber does not take in 'firewood' within the meaning of the Explanation to that entry in the Fifth Schedule. The words "all kinds of wood" in the context and connotation mean timber only. The Legislature has expressed no intention to include the same in the ca....
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....eason alone be 'timber'. All wood is not 'timber', nor, indeed, is all wood 'firewood', though both 'firewood' and 'timber' are wood in its generic sense. The nature of goods cannot be determined by the test of the use to which they are capable of being put. The user test is logical but inconclusive. The particular use to which an article can be applied in the hands of a special consumer is not determinative of the nature of the goods. In a taxing statute, words which are not technical expressions or words of art, but are words of everyday use, must be understood and given a meaning, not in their technical or scientific sense, but in a sense as understood in common parlance. The particular terms use....