TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2013 (4) TMI 679
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....lti-State co-operative society registered under the 2 Karnataka Value Added Tax Act, 2003 as well as the Act. The assessee carries on the business for purchase of arecanut directly from agriculturistgrowers and through commission agents and sale of the arecanut within the State, inter-State trade or commerce and outside the State of stock transfers to own depots and consignment dispatches to agents located out side the State. The substantial question of law, which arises for consideration in these 3 revision petitions, is as under: "Whether the charges incurred in removing arecanut from the godown filled up in the gunny bags, the cost of gunny bags, stitching charges by jute twine and transportation charges incurred to the pickup points o....
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.... single gunny bags/double gunny bags. Accordingly, the tax invoices raised for inter-State sales, the appellant billed the customers sepa rate charges, inter alia, under description of 'handling charges at two per cent' of the sale price and 'charges for packing at the rate of Rs. 60 per bag7. Such charges separately preferred in the tax invoices for the inter-State sales effects." 5 The contention is that the assessee before delivery of goods filled the arecanut in the gunny bag and duly stitched them by jute twine and there fore handling charges claimed in the invoice in effect is nothing but deli very charges, which is exempted from definition of 'sale price'. In fact, it is separately shown in the invoice and theref....
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....d that a sum charged on amount what is called "hammali" is in the nature of cost of delivery of goods like coolie charges and it is not part of sale price. Even though the said amount charged separately is also shown in the separate bill by the dealer. The Madhya Pradesh High Court also held that the charges were in the nature of cost of delivery of goods like coolie charges and hence had to be deductible from the sale price. In otherwords, cost of delivery charges if separately recovered does not form part of sale price and falls in the excluded category of "sale price" as defined in section 2(h). Therefore, it is clear that hammali charges were held to be part of cost of delivery charges. Admittedly, delivery charges cannot be included in....
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....x court in the case of Commissioner of Sales Tax, U.P. v. Rai Bharat Das & Bros. reported in [1988] 71 STC 277 (SC) held as under: "Reversing the judgment of the High Court, that in view of the finding recorded by the Tribunal that there was a contract for packing the silica sand in sound gunny bags, the packing charges realised by the respondent was an integral part of the sale price falling within 'any sum charged for anything done by the dealer in respect of the goods' as contemplated by section 2(h) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, and were exigible to sales tax under that Act." 10 In the said case, the assessee was carrying on the business of mining and sale of silica sand, whereas a contract for packing the silica sand in....