TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2024 (5) TMI 360
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....d business in hardware, electrical goods, pipes etc. The Commercial Tax Officer, Kurupam Market, Visakhapatnam finally assessed the assessee for the years 1994-95 under Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act (in short 'APGST Act') in Assessment No. 881/94-95. The Assessing Authority assessed the turnover relating to the sale of emery cloth as unclassified item and levied tax accordingly under Seventh Schedule to the APGST Act. It also assessed the turnover relating to the sales of tarpaulins and levied tax at the rate of 9% treating it as covered by item-174 of First Schedule to APGST Act. 4. The assessee filed Appeal No. VSP 84/96-97. The appeal was partly dismissed and partly remanded and partly allowed by Order dated 30.07.1996 by the Appellate Deputy Commissioner, Kakinada. With respect to emery cloth, the contention of the assessee was not accepted. It was held that the said commodity should not be treated as cotton fabric. The appeal with respect to this item was dismissed. With respect to other item - tarpaulins, the claim of the assessee was partly accepted by reducing the rate of tax to 4%. With respect to other items in the appellate Order, there is no lis in the present p....
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....f shining the wood and other articles and the cloth is useless and of no importance. 8. Learned Government Pleader further submitted that the Tarpaulin being covered in item No. 174 of the First Schedule, it was liable to be taxed and was rightly so taxed @ 4% by the Deputy Commissioner. The Appellate Tribunal erred in in interfering with the Order of the Deputy Commissioner. 9. The respondent's counsel submitted that the Order impugned does not call for any interference and is perfectly justified as the items, in question are covered under Entry-5 of Fourth Schedule and exempted from tax. 10. We have considered the aforesaid submissions and perused the material on record. 11. Section 3 of the Additional Duties Act 1957 is the charging section and provides for levy and collection of additional duties on goods described in the First Schedule thereof at the rates therein specified. Headings and subheadings and chapters within the Schedule mean headings, sub-headings and chapters in the schedule with the Central Excise Tariff Act 1985. By Section 5 of the APGST Act every dealer is required to pay tax on the quantum of his turnover at the rates specified in the schedule thereto. Se....
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.... This being the position, the appellants were paying additional excise duty under the Additional Duties of Excise (Goods of Special Importance) Act, 1957, and were exempted from payment of tax under the State Sales Tax Act. Then Item 174 was added in the First Schedule of the State Sales Tax Act. It related to "PVC cloth, waterproof cloth, tarpaulin and rexine". The appellants were sought to be made liable to sales tax under Item 174. The appellants preferred a writ petition in the High Court contending that they were not liable to pay any sales tax under Item 174 by reason of the fact that they fell within Item 5 of the Fourth Schedule of the State Sales Tax Act and were exempted by Section 8 thereof. The High Court, by the judgment which is under challenge, upheld the appellants' contention, except to this extent: "In our considered view the effect of inclusion of rexine in Entry 174 of the First Schedule to the A.P. GST Act cannot have the effect of taxing the turnover of the sales or purchases of rexine at the rate mentioned in Schedule I in view of the provisions of Section 6 of the A.P. GST Act read with Section 15 of the CST Act, as pointed out above, and thus that en....
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....observed that the appellants' product therein was covered by item-59.03 and they were liable to pay additional duty of excise under the Central Act 1957 and consequently, he was liable for exemption under Section 8 of the APGST Act. 19. With respect to tarpaulin, in Binny Limited (supra) it was held that 'tarpaulin' falls within the meaning of the expression 'cotton fabrics' under item-5 of the Fourth Schedule to APGST Act. 20. It is apt to refer paragraphs-12, 13, 20, 21 and 22 of Binny Limited (supra) as under: "12. In view of the extended meaning, the expression "cotton fabrics" as understood in common parlance will not be conclusive for the purpose of the present case. Fabrics impregnated or coated or laminated with preparations of cellulose derivatives or of other artificial plastic materials will also be "cotton fabrics" by reason of the inclusive definition. It was not disputed that the goods in question in the present case, i.e., the cotton canvas or tarpaulins were waterproof cloth and were fabric falling within the description of "fabrics impregnated, coated or laminated with preparations of cellulose derivatives or of other artificial plastic materials"; that they co....
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.... "Moreover a textile need not be of any particular size or strength or weight. It may be in small pieces or in big rolls; it may be weak or strong, light or heavy, bleached or dyed, according to the requirement of the purchaser. The use to which it may be put is also immaterial and does not bear in its character as a textile. It may be used for making wearing apparel, or it may be used as a covering or bedsheet or it may be used as tapestry or upholstery or as duster for cleaning or as towel for drying the body. A textile may have diverse uses and it is not the use which determines its character as textile. It is, therefore, no argument against the assessee that 'dryer felts' are used only as absorbents of moisture in the process of manufacture in a paper manufacturing unit. That cannot militate against 'dryer felts' falling within the category of 'textiles', if otherwise they satisfy the description of 'textiles'." 21. Thus the use of "cotton canvas" as tarpaulin or its size cannot alter its character. Does the stitching of the edges with "eyelets" make any difference? We do not think so. Its essential character remains the same and no material c....