West Bengal Sales Tax Act, 1994

No: 49 Dated: Mar, 23 1995

THE WEST BENGAL SALES TAX ACT, 1994

West Bengal Act XLIX of 1994

    An Act to consolidate and amend the laws relating to the levy of tax on sale or purchase of goods in West Bengal.

    WHEREAS it is expedient to consolidate and amend the laws relating to the levy of tax on sale or purchase of goods in West Bengal;

    It is hereby enacted in the Forty-fifth Year of the Republic of India, by the Legislature of West Bengal, as follows:—

CHAPTER I

Preliminary

1. Short title, extent and commencement:- (1) This Act may be called the West Bengal Sales Tax Act, 1994.

(2) It extends to the whole of West Bengal.

(3) This section shall come into force at once; and the remaining provisions of this Act shall come into force on such date or dates as the State Government may, by notification, appoint, and different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this Act.

2. Definitions:- In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—

(1) "Additional Commissioner" means an Additional Commissioner of Commercial Taxes appointed under sub-section (1) of section 5 or deemed to have been appointed under clause (c) of section 107;

(2) "Appellate and Revisional Board" means the West Bengal Commercial Taxes Appellate and Revisional Board deemed to have been constituted under section 6;

(3) "appointed day", in relation to any provision of this Act, means the date on which such provision comes into force;

(4) "Bureau" means the Bureau of Investigation constituted under section 7 or deemed to have been constituted under clause (e) of section 107;

(5) "business" includes—

(a) any trade, commerce, manufacture, execution of works contract or any adventure or concern in the nature of trade, commerce, manufacture or execution of works contract, whether or not such trade, commerce, manufacture, execution of works contract, adventure or concern is carried on with the motive to make profit and whether or not any profit accrues from such trade, commerce, manufacture, execution of works contract, adventure or concern; and

(b) any transaction in connection with, or ancillary or incidental to, such trade, commerce, manufacture, execution of works contract, adventure or concern;

(6) "casual trader" means a person, other than a registered dealer, who, whether as a principal or agent or in any other capacity, makes occasional purchases of goods, other than goods specified in Schedule IV, in West Bengal for purposes other than his personal use or consumption of such goods in West Bengal or makes occasional sales of goods, other than goods specified in Schedule IV, in West Bengal, and who has no fixed place of business in West Bengal, and includes a consignor or consignee of such goods in West Bengal or a transporter as defined in clause (a) of the Explanation to section 72 and an owner or lessee of a warehouse let out to any person for storage of such goods.

Explanation 1.— A transporter, who while carrying goods, other than goods specified in Schedule IV, in his goods vehicle within the meaning of section 72 fails to disclose the name and address of the consignee or consignor in West Bengal, or fails to furnish copy of invoice, challan, transport receipt or consignment note or document of like nature, in respect of such goods, shall be deemed to be a casual trader in respect of such goods carried in his goods vehicle.

Explanation 2.— An owner or lessee of a warehouse, who fails to disclose the name and address of the owner of any goods, other than goods specified in Schedule IV, stored in such warehouse shall be deemed to be a casual trader in respect of such goods;

(7) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Commercial Taxes appointed under sub-section (1) of section 3 or deemed to have been appointed under clause (c) of section 107;

(8) "company" means a company as defined in section 3 of the t of 1956. Companies Act, 1956, and includes a body corporate or corporation within the meaning of clause (7) of section 2, or a foreign company referred to in section 591, of that Act;

(9) "contractual transfer price", in relation to any period, shall mean the aggregate of the amounts received or receivable by a dealer during such period for the transfer of property in goods used by way of accretion or accession in West Bengal in execution of a works contract, whether or not the amount received or receivable for such transfer is shown separately in the works contract, and shall comprise the value of such goods purchased, manufactured, processed or procured otherwise, by the dealer and the cost of freight or delivery as may be incurred by such dealer for carrying such goods to the place where such goods are used in execution of such works contract, but shall not include such portion of the amounts as aforesaid as may be prescribed;

(10) "dealer" means any person who carries on the business of selling or purchasing goods in West Bengal or any person making sales under section 15, and includes—

(a) an occupier of a jute-mill or shipper of jute;

(b) Government, a local authority, a statutory body, a trust or other body corporate which, or a liquidator or a receiver appointed by a court in respect of a person, being a dealer as defined in this clause, who, whether or not in the course of business, sells, supplies or distributes directly or otherwise goods for cash or for deferred payment or for commission, remuneration or other valuable consideration.

Explanation 1.— A co-operative society or a club or any association which sells goods to its members is a dealer.

Explanation 2.— A factor, a broker, a commission agent, a del credere agent, an auctioneer, an agent for handling or transporting of goods or handling of document of title to goods or any other mercantile agent, by whatever name called, and whether of the same description as hereinbefore mentioned or not, who carries on the business of selling goods and who has, in the customary course of business, authority to sell goods belonging to principals, is a dealer;

(11) "director", in relation to a company, includes any person occupying the position of director, by whatever name called;

(12) "enrolled" means enrolled under sub-section (3) of section 19;

(13) "goods" includes all kinds of movable property other than actionable claims, stocks, shares or securities;

(14) "Government" means the Central Government, the Government of any State or the Government of any Union Territory;

(15) "jute" means the plant known botanically as belonging to the genus corchorus, and includes all the species of that genus, whether known commonly as pat, kosta, nalia, or by any other name, and also means the plant known botanically as hibiscus cannabinus and commonly as mesta;

(16) "jute-mill" means a factory as defined in, or declared to be a factory under, the Factories Act, 1948, which is engaged wholly or in part in the manufacture of jute products;

(17) "manufacture", with all its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means producing, making, extracting or blending any goods or such processing of any goods as may be prescribed, but does not include a works contract or such manufactures or manufacturing processes as may be prescribed;

(18) "motor spirit" means any liquid or admixture of liquids which is ordinarily used directly or indirectly as fuel for a motor vehicle or stationary internal combustion engine.

Explanation.—For the purposes of this clause, the expression "motor vehicle" shall include any means of carriage, conveyance or transport by land, air or water;

(19) "notification" means a notification published in the Official Gazette;

(20) "occupier of a jute-mill" means the person who has ultimate control over the affairs of the jute-mill;

(21) "partnership", "partner" and "firm" shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in the Indian Partnership Act, 1932;

(22) "place of business" means any place where a dealer sells any goods or keeps accounts relating to sales or purchases of goods, and includes any warehouse of such dealer;

(23) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;

(24) -principal officer", in relation to a company, means the secretary, manager, director or managing director of such company;

(25) "purchase" means any transfer of property in goods to the person making the purchase for cash or deferred payment or other valuable consideration, but does not include a transfer by way of mortgage, hypothecation, charge or pledge;

(26) "purchase price" means the amount of valuable consideration paid or payable by a person for the purchase of any goods, less any sum allowed as cash discount according to ordinary trade practice, but including any sum charged for anything done by the seller in respect of the goods at the time of, or before, delivery thereof, other than the cost of freight or delivery or the cost of installation or interest when such cost or interest is separately charged;