Excise Duty - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition excise-duty

Definition :

Excise duty, it is a tax on articles produced or manu-factured in the taxing country. Generally speaking, the tax is on the manufacturer or the producer, yet laws are to be found which impose a duty of excise at stages subsequent to the manufacture or produc-tion, A.B. Abdul Kadir v. State of Kerala, (1976) 3 SCC 219: AIR 1976 SC 182: (1976) 2 SCR 690. (Constitu-tion of India, Sch. VII, List I Entry 84)

According to s. 3(1) of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 the expression 'the excise duty for the time being leviable on a like article if produced or manu-factured in India' means the excise duty for the time being in force which would be leviable on a like article if produced or manufactured in India or, if a like article is not so produced or manufactured which would be leviable on the class of description of article to which the imported article belongs, and where such duty is leviable at different rates, the highest duty, Khandelwal Metal and Engineering Works v. Union of India, (1985) 3 SCC 620: AIR 1985 SC 1211: 1985 Supp (1) SCR 750.

Excise duty is in essence a tax on manufacture or production of goods and excise duty can be levied only on such goods as are manufactured or produced within the State, Shroff and Co. v. Municipal Corporation of Greater Bombay, 1989 Supp 1 SCC 347: 1988 Supp (2) SCR 406.

Excise duty is a duty on the manufacture of goods and not on sale, Aditya Mills Ltd. v. Union of India, (1988) 4 SCC 315: AIR 1988 SC 2237: 1988 Supp (2) SCR 668.

A duty of excise is primarily a duty levied on a manufacturer or producer introspect of the comm-odity manufactured or produced. It is a tax on goods and not on sales or the proceeds of sale of goods, Tata Iron and Steel Co. v. State of Bihar, AIR 1958 SC 452 (459). (Constitution of India, Sch. VII, List I, Entry 84)

A duty of excise is a tax on goods produced or manufactured in the taxing country, A.B. Abdulkadir v. State of Kerala, AIR 1962 SC 922 (926). (Constitution of India, Sch. VII, List I, Entry 84)