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international Creative Foods Ltd. Vs. State of Kerala - Court Judgment

SooperKanoon Citation

Subject

Sales Tax

Court

Kerala High Court

Decided On

Case Number

S.T.R. No. 96 of 2004

Judge

Reported in

2005(1)KLT845

Acts

Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963 - Sections 5

Appellant

international Creative Foods Ltd.

Respondent

State of Kerala

Appellant Advocate

Arikkat Vijayan Menon,; Harisankar V. Menon and; Meera V

Respondent Advocate

Raju Joseph, Spl. Government Pleader

Disposition

Revision dismissed

Cases Referred

In Philco Exports v. Sales Tax Officer and Ors.

Excerpt:


- code of civil procedure, 1908.[c.a. no. 5/1908]. section 100-a [as substituted by c.p.c. amendment act, 2002]: [v.k. bali, cj, kurian joseph & k. balakrishnan nair, jj] applicability held, section is not retrospective. all appeals filed prior to 1.7.2002 are competent. but subsequent to 1.7.2002 intro court appeals against judgment of single judge is not maintainable. provisions of section 100-a, c.p.c., will prevail over the provisions contained in the kerala high court act, 1959. - the petitioner was unsuccessful in the appeals. the rate also depends on other factors like name of port, etc......hand, learned senior government pleader (taxes) argued supporting the judgment of the tribunal.3. the d.e.p.b. scheme was introduced as part of the export-import policy 1997-2002. the object of the scheme is to neutralise the incidence of customs duty on the import content of the export product. the neutralisation shall be provided by way of grant of duty credit against the export product. under the d.e.p.b. scheme an exporter may apply for credit, at a specified percentage of f.o.b. value of exports made in freely convertible currency. the credit shall be available against such export products and at such rates as may be specified by the director general of foreign trade by way of public notice issued in this behalf, for import of raw materials, intermediates, components, parts, etc. for example if a is an exporter of kraft paper he will be entitled to the credit of rs. 5/- for every f.o.b. of rs. 100/-. these rates are given under section 28(a) of handbook of procedure volume-1. d.e.p.b. will be used as duty payment for import of raw materials, intermediates, components, parts, packaging materials etc. the d.e.p.b. shall be valid for a period of 12 months from the date of.....

Judgment:


S. Sankarasubban, J.

1. Assessee is the revision petitioner. The revision has been filed against the order dated 11.11.2003 in T.A. No. 695 of 2003 of the Kerala Agricultrual Income Tax and Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal, Additional Bench, Ernakulam. The assessment year is 2000 -2001. The assessee filed an annual return for the year 2000-01 reporting a total and taxable turnover of Rs. 21,31,66,524.40 and nil respectively. The accounts were called and on verification, it was found that it cannot be accepted for the reasons that an amount of Rs. 9,810/- received as Export House Premium and Rs. 33,41,124.95 received as Duty Entitlement Pass Book (D.E.P.B.) Premium, which are liable to be assessed under Section 5 of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, were excluded in the return. Though time was granted, the assessee did not file any objection. The assessment was completed as proposed. The petitioner was unsuccessful in the appeals. Hence, this revision.

2. Learned senior counsel for the petitioner contended that the judgment of the Appellate Tribunal was wrong and hence be set aside. On the other hand, learned senior Government Pleader (Taxes) argued supporting the judgment of the Tribunal.

3. The D.E.P.B. Scheme was introduced as part of the Export-Import Policy 1997-2002. The object of the Scheme is to neutralise the incidence of customs duty on the import content of the export product. The neutralisation shall be provided by way of grant of duty credit against the export product. Under the D.E.P.B. Scheme an exporter may apply for credit, at a specified percentage of F.O.B. value of exports made in freely convertible currency. The credit shall be available against such export products and at such rates as may be specified by the Director General of Foreign Trade by way of Public Notice issued in this behalf, for import of raw materials, intermediates, components, parts, etc. For example if A is an exporter of kraft paper he will be entitled to the credit of Rs. 5/- for every F.O.B. of Rs. 100/-. These rates are given under Section 28(A) of Handbook of Procedure Volume-1. D.E.P.B. will be used as duty payment for import of raw materials, intermediates, components, parts, packaging materials etc. The D.E.P.B. shall be valid for a period of 12 months from the date of issue. D.E.P.B. and/or the items imported against it are freely transferable. There is no prior approval required from licensing authority. The D.E.P.B. holder can transfer the D.E.P.B. by issuing a transfer letter in favour of the person. The transfer letter is signed by authorised person of the company. His signature is verified by his banker so as to establish the genuineness of the signature. D.E.P.B. Scheme has got a market value. Its value depends upon the demand of the items which are allowed to be imported as per the D.E.P.B. If the demand is more the premium will be high and vice versa. Presently, the prevailing premium is around 113% of the D.E.P.B. amount. That means a holder of D.E.P.B. will get Rs. 113/- for every 100 rupees value of the D.E.P.B. The rate also depends on other factors like name of Port, etc. Even though D.E.P.B. can be utilised only for import at the ports will be allowed under T.R.A. facility as per the terms and conditions of the notifications issued by the Department of Revenue.

4. Learned counsel for the petitioner contended that there is no transfer of goods involved and hence it is not exigible to tax. He further contended that it was only an 'actionable claim'. Per contra learned senior Government Pleader contended that it is goods within the definition in the Kerala General Sales Tax Act.

5. A number of decisions were cited by either side. According to us, the decision of the Delhi High Court in Philco Exports v. Sales Tax Officer and Ors. (124 STC 503) is quite relevant. The decision of the Supreme Court in Vikas Sales Corporation v. Commissioner of Commercial Taxes and Anr. (102 STC 106) was followed in the case. In the above decision, the Supreme Court held as follows:

'The R.E.P. licences/Exim scrips have their own value; they are bought and sold as such. The original licensee or the purchaser is not bound to import the goods permissible thereunder; he can simply sell it to another and that person to yet another. These licences have an inherent value of their own and are treated as such. The fact that the licensing authority can cancel the licence has no relevance to the question as to the nature of the licences. This factor does not detract from the inherent value of the licences. They are treated and dealt with in the commercial world as merchandise, as goods. An R.E.P. licence/Exim scrip is neither a chose-in-action nor an actionable claim. It is also not in the nature of a title deed. It has a value of its own. It is by itself a property and it is for this reason that it is freely bought and sold in the market. For all purposes and intents R.E.P. licences/Exim scrips are goods. If lottery tickets are goods, there is no reason why these licences/scrips are not goods'.

In Philco Exports v. Sales Tax Officer and Ors. (124 STC 503), regarding the words 'property and goods', the Delhi High Court considers the D.E.P.B. scheme and held as follows:

'Under the Import and Export Policy, the Duty Entitlement Pass Book Scheme (D.E.P.B.) is intended to neutralise the incidence of basic customs duty on the import content of the export product. The D.E.P.B. permits adjustment in payment of customs duty and if there is no adjustment, the amount in question lapses. The amount can be transferred to any person and it is essentially a right to claim back credit which is freely tradable. The right to have a credit is enforceable to that extent and does not create any right for money. When there is no restriction on the purchase and sale of D.E.P.B. freely and it has a value unrelated to the goods there is no scope of its being treated as an actionable claim. D.E.P.B. for all practical purposes represents merchandise and is treated and dealt with as such in the commercial world. D.E.P.B. is neither a chose in action nor an actionable claim. It has a value of its own. It is by itself property and it is for this reason that it is freely bought and sold in the market. For all purposes and intents, it is goods. Therefore it can be subject to tax. .. .. ..The term 'property' in jurisprudence has a very wide connotation, it includes all property whether corporeal or incorporeal. It is comprehensive enough to take in all types of proprietory rights'.

6. According to us, the definition of 'goods' under the Kerala General Sales Tax Act is also in conformity with the decision in the above cases referred to by the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court. Hence, we are of the view that they are liable to be assessed to the Kerala General Sales Tax Act.

S.T. Revision is dismissed.


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