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Transcript of Constitutional Project
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Constitutional Law:
Distribution Of Revenues
There have been many conflicts with regard that whether India is a federal
state of not. But, when we see about the characteristics of federal state then
we find that one of the characteristics specifically mentions about the
distribution of taxes. Thus, a federal state always has a distribution of
powers. Indian Constitution specifies about the distribution of revenues
where exclusive powers are given to the State, to collect taxes and exclusive
powers rest with Union in relation with taxes.
There are three lists namely, central, state and concurrent lists, where
distribution of taxes is there in various entries. So, framers of the
Constitution have definitely made the distribution appropriately.
The importance of such a distribution is very clear, as with the distributiononly, Government will come to conclusion as how has been distributed to
each states and how much it should be kept in consolidated fund of India to
meet future needs. So, its very important to see that equal distribution is
made of revenues with respect to their contribution.
Distribution of revenues thus, leads to clarity and leaves no scope for any
confusion. With the help of distribution, we meet justice. Also, the
relationship between center and state grows and the Government doesnt go
only unitary but equal participation of State is also there in colleting taxes.
So, distribution of revenue leads to a better form of Government as theprovisions with regard to distribution can be changed according to needs and
circumstances if any conflicts between the distributions arise.
The distribution of revenues is from Article 278 till Article 281 in the Indian
Constitution. The project gives importance to various restrictions imposed
on State Government in levying taxes, distribution of revenues, finance
commission and analysis.
Distribution Of Revenues Between Union And States
There are few Articles in the Indian Constitution which specifically focuses
on distribution of revenues. They are:
Article 268: Duties levied by the Union but collected and appropriated by
the States:
This Article was amended by the Constitution (seventh amendment) Act,
1956 with effect from 1st November 1956. Article 268 (1) provides that
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stamp duties and excise on medicinal and toilet preparation which are
mentioned in Union List, the collection of duties shall be made by the State
which shall be levied by the Union Government. The proceeds of any such
duty leviable within any State in any financial year shall not form part of the
consolidated Fund of India but shall be assigned to that State.
Article 268-A: Service tax levied by Union and collected an appropriated by
the Union and States:
This Article was inserted by ninety-fifth Amendment Bill, 2003 which was
passed by both the Houses of Parliament Lok Sabha on 6-5-2003 and
Rajya Sabha on 8-5-2003 . Article speaks that taxes on services shall be
levied by the Government of India which shall be collected by the States.
Such tax shall be appropriated by the Government of India and the States.
Article 269: Taxes levied and collected by the Union but assigned to theStates:
This Article was lastly amended by the eightieth amendment with effect
from 1st April, 1996. Taxes which shall be levied and collected by the
Government of India which are included in this Article: (a) the consignment
of goods which takes place in the course of inter-state trade or commerce,
(b) sale or purchase of goods which takes place in the course of inter-state
trade or commerce.
Case:Goodyear India Ltd. V. State of Haryana
In this case, the question was in relation with two sales tax act which speakson consignment of goods. Section 9(1) (b) of the Haryana General Sales Tax
Act, 1973 and Section 13AA of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959 is the tax
on consignment goods and these provisions are beyond the respective State
Legislatures as the power vests with the Parliament. And so, it was held to
be invalid. Clause 3 of this Article provides that Parliament may formulate
principles for determining that when such sales and purchase or consignment
takes place in the course of inter-state trade or commerce.
Case: State of Andhra Pradesh v. National Thermal Corporation Ltd.
The Supreme Court considered section 3 and 6 of Central Sales Tax Act,
1956. Supreme Court held that a movement of goods after completion of the
transaction of sale within the State, does not constitute inter-State sale.
Bench has also laid down few principles for considering inter-State trade or
commerce:
1) Existence of a contract of sale incorporating a stipulation, express or
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implied regarding inter-State movement of goods;
2) Goods must actually move from one State to another pursuant to such
contract;
3) Such movement of goods must be from one State to another, where the
sales conclude.
Article 270: Taxes levied and distributed between Union and States:
This Article was lastly amended in eightieth amendment which was in effect
from 1st April, 1996. This Article specifically provides that taxes on income
other than agricultural income and corporation tax shall be levied and
collected by the Union and is distributed by the Union and States . The
revenue which shall be transferred to the Sates is unconditional and the
States shall be free to use their income as and when they like. In spite of the
large transfer, the fact remains that States are not happy and the main reason
being that due to political reasons, the States do not make adequate efforts toimpose more tax. The tax proceeds shall not form a part of consolidated fund
of India but shall be distributed among States.
Case: T.M. Kanniyan v. I.T.O
Supreme Court gave a judgment with regard to income tax and said that the
income tax attributable to Union territories forms a part of the Consolidated
Fund of India. It is not necessary to make any distribution of income tax
with respect to Union territories as those territories are centrally
administered through the President.
Article 271: Surcharge on certain duties and taxes for purposes of the Union:
This Article corresponds to S. 137 and S. 138(1) of the Government of India
Act, 1935. Article basically speaks that Parliament is empowered to levy a
surcharge from time to time as its the parliament who has imposed a
surcharge and so it wont be precluded to surcharge in another form. All
proceeds from such surcharges are to form part of the Consolidated Fund of
India and are not liable to be distributed among the states. No one can
prevent Parliament to impose a surcharge.
Article: 272: Taxes which are levied and collected by the Union and may be
deistributed between the Union and the States:
This Article has been omitted by the Constitution Act, in eightieth
amendment.
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Grant In Aid :
Article 273: Grants in lieu of export duty on jute and jute products:
Under the Government of India Act, the Central Governement shared the net
proceeds of the jute export duty with the jute growing provinces. Under this
Constitution, the States are not entitled to any such share .
The Provision specifies that for a period of 10 years from the
commencement of the Constitution, the jute growing states of West Bengal,
Bihar, Orissa and Assam will receive grants-in-aid from the Union in lieu of
the above share of the jute export duty to the extent of sums specified by the
President with the consultation of Finance Commission.
Article 275: Grants from the Union to certain States
This Article was amended in twenty-second Amendment which came in
effect in 1969. Parliament is empowered to make such grants, as and when it
is necessary to the States which are in need of financial assistance. Specialgrants may also be made to promote welfare schemes for Scheduled Castes
and Scheduled Tribes.
Article 282: Expenditure defrayable by the Union or a State out of its
revenues:
This Article corresponds to (i) Section 150 of the Government of India Act,
1935; (ii) Article 1, Section 8(1) of the Constitution of the United States, and
(iii) Section 81 of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, 1900.
This Article provides that the spending power of the Union or State
Legislature is not limited to the legislative powers. Thus, they can spendmore money but the purpose should be public.
Criticism: This Article has very wide wings. How this money is to be
utilized, is not mentioned in this article. So, any political party can misuse
the money in name of public purpose.
Case: Cf. Narayanan Nambudripad, kidangazhi Manakkal v State of
Madras
Supreme Court has decided that the exercise of religion is a private purpose.
But, if the States themselves take the management of such religious
endowment in the interest of public order, mortality, or health, then it is for
pubic purpose.
Restrictions Of The States Power To Levy Taxes
Article 276: States power to Levy taxes on Professions and Trades:
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Article authorizes a state or other local authority to levy taxes on professions
etc. where List 2, Entry 60 speaks of. Clause 2 of this Article specifies the
fixed limit of Rs. 250 per annum for taxes on professions, calling etc. Later,
Constitution raised the limit to Rs. 2500.
Case: Quilon Municipality v. H&C. Ltd.
Here, Kerela Profession Tax, 1958 was held to be ultravires because it
violated Article 276 and also encroaching upon the Union firld of income
tax inasmuch as it exceeded the permissible limit which was there Rx. 250 at
that time.
Case: B.M. Lakhani v. Municipal Committee
Here 2 questions were raised: (a) whether a suit for refund of tax, which was
ultra vires the municipality, paid to the municipality was maintainable, and
(b) if the suit is maintainable, whether the levy of tax by the municipalitywas valid in law. Thus, Supreme Court held that the suit for refund of tax in
excess of the amount permitted by Article 276 was maintainable. And, for
second question, there was a bar against the levy in excess of the amount
specified in the Constitution and not a mere question of levy of taxes under
an inapplicable entry.
Criticism: (a) This Article comes in overlapping situation with Union list
but still Constitution permits such kind of overlapping. (b) Even if the matter
may not fall in the law made by the State relating to taxes, for the benefit of
States of a municipality, district board, local authority etc. shall not beinvalid on the grounds that it relates to a tax of income.
Article 286: States power to Levy Taxes
Article 286gives the power to levy taxes on sale or purchase of goods other
than newspapers belonging to States. But, there are few Union laws like
imports and exports and taxes on sale or purchase of goods, other than
newspapers in the course of inter-State trade or commerce. So, to avoid
such overlapping, Article 286 subjects the States power to levy sales tax to
the following restrictions:-
Article 286 (1) (a): No State can tax a sale or purchase taking place outside
the State
This Article specifically prohibits a State to impose a tax on the sale or
purchase of goods where such sale or purchase takes place outside the State.
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But, clause 2 of this Article clearly lays down the principles for determining
when a ale or purchase takes place outside the State.
Article 286 (1) (b):No State can tax a sale or purchase taking place in the
course of import and export:
This Article prohibits a State to impose a tax on the sale or purchase of
goods when such sale or purchase takes place in the course of import of the
goods into or export of the goods out of the territory of India. Parliament
may by law formulate principles for determining when a sale or purchase
takes place in the course of import and export of goods.
Case: K. Gopinath v. State of Kerela
There were cashewnuts, which were purchased and imported by the C.C.I
from African suppliers, which were sold by C.C.I to local users. SC held that
the sale by the C.C.I were not in the course of import and was not coveredby the exemption of Central Sales Tax Act, 1956. There being no direct or
inserverable link between transactions of sale and import of goods on
account of nature of understanding between the C.C.I. and purchasers as also
be the reason of canalizing scheme for import by C.C.I. the sales do not go
in exemption.
Entry 92A Union List: No state can tax a sale or purchase taking place in the
course of Inter-State trade and commerce:
The power to impose tax on sale or purchase is exclusively vested with the
Parliament. Section 3 of Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 provides that: A sale orpurchase of goods shall be deemed to take place in the course of Inter-State
trade or commerce if the sale or purchase (a) occasions the movement of
goods from one Sate to another; or (b) is effected by a transfer of documents
of title to the goods during their movement from one State to another.
Article 286(3): Taxes on sale or purchase of goods of special importance:
Section 14 of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 declares a number of goods to
be of special importance in Inter-State trade or commerce. Section 15 thus,
imposes restrictions on taxation of sales of such goods.
Article 286 (3) (b): Taxes on the sale or purchase of goods in the course of
Inter-State trade or commerce specified in sub clauses (b), (c) or (d) of
clauses (29-A) of Article 366:
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Clause 29-A of Article 366 provides for tax on sale or purchase of goods on
transfer of property in goods involved in execution of a works contract, on
delivery of goods on hire-purchase or any system of payment by
installments, transfer of right to use any goods for any purpose for cash,
deferred payment or any other valuable consideration. Thus, State law is
restricted to impose any tax on above things.
Article 277 And Article 279
Article 277: Savings
This article speaks about any taxes, duties, cesses or fees which immediately
before the commencement of the Constitution, were being lawfully levied by
the Government shall be continued for the same purposes notwithstanding
that above things are mentioned in Union list, unless the contrary law has
been provided.
According to Durga Das Basu, the object of this article is to preventdislocation of the finances of local government and authorities by reason of
the coming into force of new constitutional enactments disturbing heads of
taxation on lines different from those which existed before the
commencement of such constitutional changes.
It is presumed that the taxation is meant for the benefit of the public which
results from expenditure incurred or from schemes undertaken by State or
local Government authorities. The scope of the Article is limited and it has
no application where there has been no shifting in the allocation of power as
between the Union and the State under the Constitution.
Case: Amravati Municipality v. Ramchandra
The municipality of Amravati, under a law passed before the Constitution
came into operation, imposed terminal tax on goods, except gold and silver,
imported in or exported outside municipal limits by rail or road. The power
to impose this kind of tax after the commencement of the Constitution was
given to the Parliament under Entry 89 of List I. after the commencement of
the Constitution, an amending notification of the municipality of 1959 made
gold and silver also subject to the terminal tax. The Court held that, theaction of the municipality is unconstitutional on the ground that Article 277
could neither permit increase in the rate nor could its incidence be altered.
It must be noted that article 372 is a general provision and article 277 is a
special provision. Article 372 saves all pre-constitutional valid laws and
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article 277 is confined to only taxes, duties cesses or fees. Article 372 must
be read subject to Article 277.
Case: Hyderabad Chemical and Pharmaceutical Works Ltd. V. State of
Andhra Pradesh
The appellant were manufacturing medicines in which they had to use
alcohol. They were working under licenses granted under the Hyderabad
Abkari Act and the rules made there under. They were required to pay
certain fees to the State Govt. for the supervision. There after, the Parliament
passed the Medicinal and Toilet Preparations Act, 1955 under which they
were not required to pay the fee. The petitioner challenged the levy of fees
by the State Govt. after the passing of the Central Act, 1955. By virtue of
entry 84 of list 1 and VIIth Schedule and Art. 277, no charge could be levied
by the State. It was held that after the passing of the law by the Parliament,
the Hyderabad Act must be deemed to have been repealed.
There is also a difference between tax and fee. A tax is an imposition made
for public purpose, without reference to any services rendered by the State or
any specific benefit. Whereas, fee is a payment levied by the State in respect
of services performed by it for the benefit of the individual. It is levied on a
principle just opposite to tax. Tax is paid for common benefit conferred by
the Government on all tax-payers, whereas a fee is payment made for some
special benefits.
Article 279: Calculation of net proceeds, etc.This article defines the net proceeds of a tax. It means all the proceeds of
tax reduced by the cost of collection. The certificate of the Comptroller and
the Auditor General of India of net proceeds of a tax in a State shall be final.
Finance Commission
Article 280 of the Indian Constitution speaks about finance commission. The
idea of Finance Commission has been adopted from the model of the
Common-wealth Commission of Australia. The expert committee on the
Financial Provisions of the Constitution recommended the setting up of aFinance Commission. The Finance Commission in India is an innovation of
far reaching importance as it attempts to make the Indian fiscal system
federal in character. It is worth noting that in assessing the needs of the
States and determining the proportions in which the States, individually,
should share the central assistance, the Finance Commission has been
guided inter-alia, by the principle that the scheme of distribution should
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attempt to lessen the inequalities between the states The framers of the
Constitution ensured that the transfer of funds from the Centre to the States
should be made neither in such a manner as nor to impair the autonomy of
the States. Article 280 required the President to appoint a Finance
Commission within two years from the commencement of the Constitution
and thereafter at the expiration of every fifth year or at such earlier time as
the President might consider necessary.
According to the Finance Commission Act, it has all the powers of a civil
court for summoning the witnesses, requiring production of any document,
requiring any person to furnish information on any point which the
Commission regards as useful or relevant to any matter under its
consideration.
Constitution of Finance Commission:
According to the Finance Commission Act, 1952, the Commission is to
consist of a Chairman and four other members appointed by the President.
The Act further says that, the Chairman of the Finance Commission shall be
selected from amongst persons who had experience in public affairs and the
members shall be selected from the following categories:
X Who are qualified to be appointed as judge of a High Court; or
X Who have special knowledge of the finance; or
X Who had wide experience of financial matters and in administration; or
X Who had special knowledge of economics.
Importance of Finance Commission:
The Finance Commission is capable of settling many complicated financial
problems which affect the relationship between the Union and the States.
The recommendations of the last 12 Finance Commissions have proved that
the Commission has settled many complicated problems and the present
system of allocation of finance between the Union and the States is almost
the result of these recommendations. While making recommendations,
Finance Commission will take all relevant matters into account including the
state of finances of Centre.
Functions of Finance Commission:
The Commissions first function would be of the nature of arbitration, and
therefore the Commissions decisions will be final. There are few duties
described by Art. 280(3):
X The distribution between the Union and the States of the net proceeds of
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the taxes which are to be, or may be, divided between them, and the
allocation of the respective shares of such proceeds;
X The principles to govern the grants-in-aid of the revenues of the States
out of the Consolidated Fund of India;
X The measures needed to augment the State Consolidated Fund to
supplement the resources of the panchayats in the State on the basis of the
recommendations made by the State Finance Commission;
X The measures needed to augment the State Consolidated Fund to
supplement the resources of the municipalities in the State on the basis of
the recommendations made by he State Finance Commission;
X Any other matter referred to it by the President in the interest of the
sound finance.
Various Finance Commissions:
Originally, the Finance Commission was intended to cover all the financialtransfers from the Centre to the States under Articles 269, 272, 275, and 282.
I fact the First and Second Finance Commission recommended financial
assistance to cover both the revenue and the capital requirements of the
States, but the establishment to the Planning Commission led to the
bifurcation of this function and the Finance Commissions role became
limited to the non-plan expenditure. There have 12 finance commissions till
now. The last Finance Commission is established in 2003 where the
Chairman of that Commission is C. Rangarajan. It is only expected that the
Finance Commissions shall apply only 2 yardsticks: one of the tax effort of
the State, and another is the efficiency and economy in formulating its
recommendations. But, A.K. Chanda in late seventies in his book mentioned
that: it feels that neither of the yardsticks have been applied, as the tax
potential varies from State to State and it is beyond the resources of, and the
time allocated for, a Finance Commission to undertake the assessment, also
it is unable to evaluate the relative administrative efficiency of the States, as
neither the statistical material nor the time needed is available for making
such in-depth study. So, what I can infrige from his statement made at that
time was that, Finance Commission has failed to fulfill its purpose, which is
contrary to the views made by S. R. Bhansali, who said that FinanceCommission has been a backbone to many problems. Thus, I feel that
Finance Commission has come up to a great help in solving the distribution
of revenues, and will be of great help in future also.
Conclusion
This paper work basically deals with the distribution of taxes. So, my paper
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work focuses on the various ways in which distribution of revenues takes
place, also the role of finance commission, and certain restrictions of State in
levy of taxes. The idea of Finance Commission is very unique. It is very
important to have a separate body recommending in issues related financing.
The framers of the Constitution have correctly put note of the finance
commission. The distribution of revenues have been properly dealt as
neither the rules are rigid nor its confusing. The idea of dividing the taxes
has been properly dealt. Though, the collection of main revenues is dealt by
Union Government, but still, there are quite number of taxes which are dealt
only by State. The distribution in few revenues is though overlapping but the
ends of justice do meet. I can clearly note that Parliaments rights are not
tied up. Every law is subject to Parliaments new contrary law. Thus, Indian
Constitution gives wide powers to parliament and it is not rigid neither
same. So, according to future needs one can also change the said rules of
law. The procedural aspects of this distribution might be confusing or ratherdifficult but the theoretical aspects are very clearly laid down by the Indian
Constitution.
Distribution of Financial Powers between Centre and States
The financial relations between the Union Government and the States
are discussed in Article 268 to 281 of the Constitution of India. In aFederation, the Centre and the units are given their separate sourcesof revenues so that they can stand on their feet. We can see in thefollowing paras the financial relations between the Government ofIndia and the States:(i) Duties levied by the Union but collected andappropriated by the States(a) Article 268 of the Constitution lays down that the stamp dutiesand such duties of excise on medicinal and toilet preparations as arementioned in the Union List shall be levied by the Government ofIndia but shall be collected by the States.(b) The proceeds in any financial year of any such duty leviable withinany State shall not form part of the Consolidated Fund of India, but
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shall be assigned to that State.(ii) Taxes levied and collected by the Union but assigned tothe StatesThe following duties and taxes shall be levied and collected by theGovernment of India but shall be assigned to the States in accordance
with such principles of distribution as may be formulated byParliament by law.(a) Duties in respect of succession to property other than agriculturalland.(b) Estate duty in respect to property other than agricultural land.(c) Terminal taxes on goods or passengers carried by railway, sea or
air.(d) Taxes on railway fares and freights.(e) Taxes other than stamp duties on transactions in stock exchangesand future markets.(f) Taxes on the sale or purchase of newspapers and onadvertisements published therein.(g) Taxes on the sale or purchase of goods other than newspapers,
where such sale or purchase takes place in the course of inter-Statetrade or commerce.
(iii) Taxes levied and collected by the Union and distributedbetween the Union and the States
Article 270 says that taxes on incomes, other than agriculturalincomes, shall be levied and collected by the Government of India anddistributed between the Union and the States in the mannerprescribed by the President after considering the recommendations ofthe Finance Commission.
(iv) Taxes which are levied and collected by the Union andmay be distributed between the Union and Stales .
Under Article 272, Union duties of excise other than such duties ofexcise on medicinal and toilet preparations as are mentioned in theUnion List shall be levied and collected by the Government of India,
but, if Parliament by law So provides, these shall be paid out of the
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Consolidated Fund of India to the States in accordance with suchprinciples of distribution as may be formulated by such law.(v) Grants in lieu of export duty on Jute and Jute ProductsUnder Article 273 the States of Assam, Bihar, Orissa and WestBengal will get grant in-aid every year in lieu of assignment of shareof the net proceeds of export duty on jute and jute products. Thisamount will be charged upon the Consolidated Fund of India. Thissum will continue to be charged on the Consolidated Fund of India solong as any export duty on the jute products continues to be levied bythe Government of India.(vi) Grants from the Union to certain States
(a) Under Article 275 of the Constitution, such sums as theParliament may by law provide shall be charged on the ConsolidatedFund of India in each year as grants-in-aid to the revenues of suchStates as Parliament may determine to be in need of assistance anddifferent sums may be fixed for different States.(b) It has also been provided that these sums shall be paid out ofConsolidated Fund of India as grants-in-aid to the States to meet thecosts of such schemes of development as may be under-taken for thepurpose of promoting the welfare of the Scheduled Tribes in the State
or raising the level of administration of the Scheduled Areas thereinto that of the administration of the rest of the areas of that State.(c) The Slate of Assam will be given a special grant in-aid for raisingthe level of administration of tribal areas to that of the administrationof the rest of the areas of that State.Under the 89th Constitution Amendment Bill, the States will get 29%of Central taxes as per the recommendations of the 10th FinanceCommission.
India has a federal form of government, and hence a federalfinance system. The essence of federal form of governmentis that the Centre and the State Governments should beindependent of each other in their respective,
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constitutionally demarcated spheres of Action. Once thefundamentals of the government are spelt out, it becomesequally important that each of the government should beprovided with sources of raising adequate revenues to
discharge the functions entrusted to it. For the successfuloperation of the federal form of government financialindependence and adequacy for the backbone.
Sales taxes are most important revenue for the state sinIndia. While the taxes vary in their design, they are generallylevied in the first point of sale within the State.
Hamilton in his federalist papers stated that Multileveledgovernment permits various functions to be assumed by
different levels, potentially improving efficiency sincedifferent activities have different optimal scales and hence inIndia with respect to Sales Tax Federalism, TheConstitutional amendment in 1956, gave the States power toimpose sales tax the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956,enacted bythe Sixth Constitutional Amendment which introduced Entry92A in List I of the Seventh Schedule authorizing Parliamentto levy tax on the sale or purchase of goods (other thannewspapers) in the course of inter-State trade.
The revenue from this tax was assigned to the States byamendingArticle 269 of the Constitution. Thus, sale withinthe State (Intra-State sale) is within the authority of StateGovernment, while sale outside State (Inter-State sale) iswithin the authority of Central Government. Accordingly, theCentral Sales Tax (CST) is levied on sale or purchase ofgoods in the course of inter-State trade and commerce. Thepower to levy the CST and revenue from this tax is, however,assigned to the State occasioning the movement of goods
from one State to another (i.e., the exporting State)
An attempt has been made hereby to study the Distributionof Power and Tax federalism in India with respect to Sales
Taxation in India Keeping in view the Central Sales Tax Actand the Individual States Sales Tax Acts.
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Fiscal Federalism In IndiaThe federal character of public finance in India has its originas far as the seventies of the last century. Although at thattime the country had a unitary form of government, some
division of functions and financial powers between theCenter and the state was found administrativelydesirable[1]. Ever since then the arrangements have beenrevised and improved from time to time. Fiscal federalismentails the division of responsibilities in respect of taxationand public expenditure among the different layers of thegovernment, namely the Center, the states and the localbodies. Fiscal federalism helps governmental organization torealize cost efficiency by economies of scale in providingpublic services, which correspond most closely to the
preference of the people[2]. From the point of view ofeconomy, it creates a unified common market, whichpromotes greater economic activity.
India has a federal form of government, and hence a
federal finance system. The essence of federal form of
government is that the Centre and the State Governments
should be independent of each provided with sources of
raising adequate revenues to discharge the functions
entrusted to it. For the successful operation of the federalform of government financial independence and adequacy
form the backbone[3]
The Seventh Schedule (Article 246) delineates the
subject matter of laws made by the Parliament and by the
Legislatures of the states and indicates the Union List (List
I), states List (List II) and the Concurrent List (List III)[4]. List I
invests the union with all functions of national importance
such as defence, external affairs, communications,
constitution, organization of the Supreme Court and the high
courts, elections etc, List II invests the states with a number
of important functions touching on the life and welfare of the
people such as public order, police, local government, public
health, agriculture, land etc. List III is a concurrent List,
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which includes administration of justice, economic and social
planning, trade and commerce, etc.
According to Article 246, Seventh Schedule, Parliament
has exclusive powers to make laws regarding mattersenumerated in List I, not withstanding the provisions of the
other clauses of this Article. On the other hand, the
Legislature of any state has exclusive power to make laws
for the state regarding any of the matters enumerated in List
II, subject to other clauses[5]. With regard to List III, both the
Parliament and a State Legislature can make laws but the
law listed in I or III, vests with the Union. Thus, the Union has
supremacy over a wide range of the legislative field.
These lists include the powers of taxation also. Theunion List includes among others, taxes on income otherthan agricultural income, excise duties, customs andcorporation tax. The State list includes land revenue, exciseon Alcoholic liquors, tax on agricultural incomes, estate duty,taxes on sale or purchase of goods, taxes on vehicles, onprofessions, on luxuries, on entertainment, on stamp duties,etc. the concurrent list does not include any important taxes.
Accordingly there are both mandatory and enabling
provisions in the Constitution for facilitating a wide-ranging
transfer of resources, arranged in a systematic manner,
through
1) Levy of duties by the Center but collected and retained
by the States.
2) Taxes and duties levied and collected by the Center
but assigned in whole to the states
3) Mandatory sharing of the proceeds of income tax4) Permissible participation in the proceeds of the Union
excise duties
5) Statutory grants in-aid of the revenues of states
6) Grants for any public purpose and
7) Grants of loans for any public purpose
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Thus, having provided for a certain division of powers of
taxation between the union and the states, the Constitution
gives the States a share in the resources available to the
Center. Any amendment of the lists from the Union and the
States derive their power of taxation is covered by theProvisio to Article 368. This requires ratification by the
Legislatures of not less than one half of the States. [6]On the
other hand, if any provisions of the Part XII are to be
amended, this can be done under Article 368(2), which
requires the approval of only half of the members of each
house of the Parliament. This means that the share of the
Union resources that the states are entitled to, can be
altered by Parliament by its power of amendment.
Though considerations of national policy and administrativeconvenience require that some of the more elastic taxesshould be assigned to the Union Governments, theseconsiderations themselves require that some of the mostexpansive expenditure heads apart from defense, should beundertaken by the States. Consequently, a salientcharacteristic of federal government is legislative autonomywith financial dependence. This feature is accentuated in a
developing economy where the functions of the Statesdevelop by leaps and bound with no corresponding increasein the sources of revenue.
The Concept Of Sales Taxation In IndiaSales tax is the most important revenue for the States inIndia. It can be defined as a tax on sale of goods. The liabilityto pay sales tax arises on making sales of goods. Sales tax islevied on the sale of a commodity, which is produced orimported and sold for the first time. If the product is soldsubsequently without being processed further, it is exemptfrom sales tax.
According to John Due, "A sales Tax is levy imposed
upon the sales, or element incidental to sales, such as
receipts from them, of all or a wide range of
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commodities."[7]A sales tax may be levied upon all the
transactions through which the commodities pass or upon
one or a small number of stages only. It is presumed that the
tax will be shifted forward to the consumers, the selling firm
being regarded as merely an agent to collect tax.
The present day sales taxes may be classified into three
major groups:
Multiple-stage taxes: they apply to all the stages
in production and distribution, in other words all the
transactions from initial production to final sale to the
consumers.
Single-stage taxes: they apply to commodities only
once in productionand distribution channels.
Value Added taxes: it bears the characteristics of
both multi stage taxes and single stage taxes, since it
involves the multiplication of the tax rate but produces
the same overall distribution on commodity as a single
stage tax.
Sales taxation differs in different countries according to
the breadth of the coverage. In the United States of
America there are at least six different types of sales
tax. In some countries the sales tax is on the sale of the
manufacturer only, or on the whole saler or the retailers
only. In many countries the retailers were not taxed
until recently.
In India, the law for levying sales tax is provided in the
Central Sales Tax Act, 1966. This act was passed by the
Parliament and applies to the entire country. The main
objects of this act are :-
1. To formulate the principles for determining as to
when sale or purchase of goods takes place (i) in the
course of inter-state trade or commerce or (ii) outside a
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state or (iii) in the course of import into or export from
India.
2. To provide for the levy, collection and distribution of
taxes on sales of goods in the course of inter-state
trade or commerce3. To declare certain goods to be of special importance
in interstate trade or commerce.
To specify the restrictions and conditions in respect of
State laws which impose taxes on the sale or purchase of
such goods of special importance. Sales tax can be levied
either by the Central or State Government, Central Sales tax
department. Also, 4 per cent tax is generally levied on all
inter-State sales. Depending on the type of sales, which can
be classified into three categories[8]:
Intra-state sales[9]
Sales during import and export
Inter-state sales
State sales taxes that apply on sales made within a Statehave rates that range from 4 to 15 per cent. Sales tax is alsocharged on works contracts in most States and the value of
contracts subject to tax and the tax rate vary from State toState. However, exports and services are exempt from salestax. Sales tax is levied on the seller who recovers it from thecustomer at the time of sale.
Central Sales Tax Act And Tax Federalism In IndiaThe period following the adoption of the Constitution up to1955 could be described as a transitory phase for salestaxation. It was only with the Supreme Court judgment in
1955 and through the resultant. Constitutional amendmentin 1956, that the States power to impose sales tax wasclearly demarcated. Thus, the taxes on sale or purchase ofgoods in the course of inter-State trade or commerce werebrought expressly within the purview of the legislative
jurisdiction of Parliament.
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As a result, the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956,enacted by
the Sixth Constitutional Amendment which introduced Entry
92A[10]in List I of the Seventh Schedule authorizing
Parliament to levy tax on the sale or purchase of goods
(other than newspapers)[11]in the course of inter-Statetrade. The revenue from this tax was assigned to the States
by amendingArticle 269 of the Constitution.Thus, sale within
the State (Intra-State sale) is within the authority of State
Government, while sale outside State (Inter-State sale) is
within the authority of Central Government. Accordingly, the
Central Sales Tax (CST) is levied on sale or purchase of
goods in the course of inter-State trade and commerce. The
power to levy the CST and revenue from this tax is, however,
assigned to the State occasioning the movement of goods
from one State to another (i.e., the exporting State)
In addition, section 15 of the Central Sales Tax Act laid
down certain restrictions on the powers of the States in
regard to the levy of inter - State sales tax on goods
declared as of special importance within their respective
territories[12].
In addition to the above, since 1975, the Union
Government entered into an agreement with the States to
abolish sales tax on textiles, sugar and tobacco including
manufactured tobacco.
According to the agreement, the Union Government
levies an additional Excise Duty in lieu of Sales tax
(IDEALIST) on these 3 commodities. In recompense, the
entire proceeds of the IDEALIST are assigned to the States.Thus, the Union Government entered into a tax-rental
arrangement with the States who were given the
Constitutional right to cancel the agreement and impose
sales tax on these commodities, whenever they so desired.
But the right of States to levy sales tax on these
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commodities was restricted by including these three items
under the of "Good of Special Importance",
Hence, the rate of sales tax on these commodities can't
exceed the rate of the Central Sales Taxwhich, at present, isfour percent If the product is sold subsequently without
being processed further, it is exempt from sales tax. Sales
tax can be levied either by the Central or State Government,
Central Sales tax department.
Sales Tax And The Division Of Taxing PowerIn federal constitution the powers of taxation are distributedbetween the Union and the States as a part of the overall
distribution of the Legislative Powers. In India it is underArticle 246, it is mentioned in Part XII of the Constitution thatmakes some of the taxes that are within the exclusive powerof the Union, under this article are divisible between theUnion and the States. One can argue that the Intention is tostrengthen the states and this can be achieved by increasingtheir powers of taxation. It is the power to tax thatstrengthen the States and not merely the proceeds from atax.[13]
Various procedures for framing the rules under theCentral sales tax Act can be broadly divided under the
following three heads:
(a) rules framed by the Central Government
(b) rules framed by the State Government
(c) rules as prescribed in the State Sales tax laws of each
state
It may be noted that though the tax is levied as the
Central Sales Tax, it is administered by respective State
Governments[14].
(a) Rules Framed by the Central Government:
Section 13 (1) authorizes the Central Government to
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make rules for different purposes. Some of these rules
have already been discussed in the preceding paras.
(b) Rules Framed by the State Governments: with
Section 13(3), the State Governments are authorized tomake rules for different purposes. These rules should not
be inconsistent with the CST Act or rules made by the
Central Government under the CST Act. The State
Governments can make these rules for the following
purposes. In view to the aforesaid power, all the State
Governments have framed their rules and prescribe their
forms.
(c) Rules Prescribed in the State Sales Tax Laws:Section 9(2) provides that all provisions of the local sales
tax law of each state (other than those provided in the
Central Sales Tax and rules made there in) in respect of
the following shall be applicable to any person under the
CST Act in that state. If in any state there is no general
sales tax law in force, the Central Government may take
necessary provision for all or any matters specified in the
CST Act.
It is pointed out that the tax on the interstates-State
sales had originally been included in Art. 269 , the power to
administer the tax and retain the revenue was delegated to
the originating state. It was pointed out that original
provision of the Constitution was based on the destination
principle whereas after the Constitutional Amendment under
the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, the origin rule, paving the
way for tax exportation, displaced this, somewhatinadvertently.[15]
Herein, it can be clearly seen that the structure of sales
taxation clearly fits in the bracket for a federal structure. The
sales of a variety of goods of general use are more or less
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confined to the individual areas or states. Therefore, the
allocation of general sales tax to the states is quite
appropriate. There are, however, certain commodities, which
enter inter-state trade. Different rates in different states on
the sale of these goods, therefore, may adversely affect thetrade. To avoid this difficulty, sometimes, Central co-
ordination in the management and rates of these taxes is
introduced.
Sometimes sales taxes on certain commodities are
substituted by special excise duties imposed by the Centre,
the proceeds of which are distributed to the States on some
well-defined basis.
Determination Of Imposition And Collection Of SalesTax
"Another View to the Federal Scheme of Distribution"
A sale or purchase of goods, which is not within the state as
per the above provisions, will be treated as taking place
outside the state. The purpose of determining whether the
sales have taken place within the state or outside the state
is very important for levying central sales tax since underthe CST Act, tax is leviable only on sales in the course of
inter-state trade or commerce, while the state sales tax laws
apply on the sales that are made within the state.
Vide section 9(1), tax under the CST Act shall be levied
by the Central Government but can be collected and
retained by the State Government where the movement of
the goods have been commenced.
I. Inter-state trade or commerce
Section 3 of Central Sales Tax Act defines Inter-State sale or
purchase as a sale or purchase of goods shall be deemed to
take place in the course of interstate trade or commerce if
the sale or purchase
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a) Occasions the movement of goods from one state to
another.
b) Is effected by a transfer of documents of title to the goods
during their movement from one state to another
In CSTv. Suresh Chand Jain[16]it was held that a
sale can be said to be in the course of inter-state only if two
conditions concur viz. (i) sale of goods and (ii) a transport
of those goods from one State to another. If in case, Inter-
state sales involve two or more states. It is necessary to
determine the state in which the sale or purchase of goods
takes place since that becomes the appropriate state for the
purpose of levying and collecting central sales tax. Not all
despatches of goods from one state to another result in inter
state sales rather the movement must be on account of a
covenant or incident of the contract of sales.
In case of Inter- State Sale there are certain essentialingredients which includes that the transaction must be acompleted sale, moreover, in Balabhgas Hulaschand v. Stateof Orissa[17]it was held that for inter state sale to becomplete, there should be an agreement to sale which
contains a stipulation (express or implied) regardingmovement of goods from one State to another. In the caseofCST, UP v. Bakhtawar Lal Kailash Chand Arhtiit[18]washeld thatit is immaterial whether a completed sale precedesthe movement of goods or follows the movement of goods ortakes place while the goods are in transit. What is importantis that movement of goods and the sale must be inseparablyconnected, moreover the movement shall bephysical[19] and suchmovement must be inextricably
connected with sale. This Sale need not precede the inter-State movement. Sale can be either before the movement orafter the movement. [20]
There are some instances wherein the goods aremoved out of the selling state and yet they are notconsidered inter state sales: -
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Intra-state sales
Stock transfer from head office to branch & vice versa
Import and Export sales or purchases
Sale through commission agent / on account sales
Delivery of Goods for executing works contract
II. Intra State Trade or commerce
A sale or purchase of goods shall be deemed to take place
inside the state if the goods are within the state.
In case of specific or ascertained goods, at the time
the contract of sale is made (Specific or ascertained
goods means goods which are identified and agreed
upon at the time when contract of (sale is made) and
In case of unascertained or future goods, at the
time of appropriation of contract of sale by the seller or
by the buyer, whether the ascent of the other party is
prior or subsequent to such appropriation (eg
agreement to buy mangoes which are still growing on
the trees at a future date)
III. Sale or purchase of goods in the course of importor export
The Constitution of India prohibits imposition of sales tax on
import and exports and authorizes Parliament to formulate
principles for determining when sale is in the course of
import/export. Under these powers, section 5 of CST Act has
been enacted.
A sale or purchase of goods shall be deemed to take place in
the course of exports of goods out of the territory of India
only if: - 1. The sale or purchase results in such exports; or
2. Is effected by the transfer of documents of title after the
goods have crossed the customs of India.
In other words, location of goods when contract of sales is
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made is very important for determining where the sale took
place.
Procedure For Imposition Of Sales Tax
Section 6 of the Central Sales Tax is the charging section i.e.it creates a liability for a dealer to pay Sales Tax on all salesof goods other than sale of electrical energy affected by himin the course of inter-state trade or commerce during anyfinancial year[21].
A sale or purchase of goods is said to take place when the
transfer of property in the existing goods or future goods
takes place for consideration of money. The goods have
been divided into different categories and different rates of
sales tax are charged for different categories of goods.
In most of the cases related to the sales tax, the tax
on the sale or purchase of goods is at single point. Under the
provisions of some state laws the assesses are divided into
several categories such as manufacturer, dealer, selling
agent etc. and such as assess is required to obtain a
registration certificate to that effect. The sales tax or the
purchase tax is levied on that assesses on the basis of his
category such as dealer, manufacturer etc. on production ofcertain forms or certificates (and differential rates of sales
tax are levied). Generally, a quarter return of sales or
purchases is insisted upon and the assesses is required to
furnish the return in the prescribed form.
At the time of assessment, the assesses has to furnish all the
documentary evidence and satisfy the concerned sales tax /
commercial tax officer. The sales tax laws of the states
prescribe the procedure to be followed in case an assessee
prefers to make an appeal. Every dealer should apply for
registration and obtain a registration certificate to that
effect. The registration certificate number should be quoted
in the entire bill / cash memos.
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The Theory Of Territorial Nexus
It is a well known that neither the sale of goods Act nor the
Central sales tax has so far tried to fix the situs of sale. This
is because the localization of a sale in many cases is a
difficult problem when different stages of the transaction ofsale are reached in different places, as when the contract of
sale is made in one state while the transfer of ownership of
goods takes place in another, the payment of price in the
third state and the delivery in yet another state .in such
cases, there might be a real danger of different states
claiming to tax the same transaction on the basis of
sufficient territorial nexus. Between the state and what it
sought to tax. The purpose of Article286 of the Constitution
of India was to avert such danger.The power of provincial
legislature to make a law imposing sales tax was granted by
section 100 (3) of the Government of India Act read with
entry 48 of the List II of the seventh schedule and such a law
could be made for the province or for any part thereof:
basing themselves on the doctrine of territorial nexus, the
legislature of different provinces enacted sales tax laws
adopting one or more of the nexi as the basis of taxation.
When the states power to tax sales on territorial nexus
theory was challenged, it was decided by the Supreme Court
inPoppatial Shah v. State of Bombay[22]that it would be
quite competent to enact a legislation imposing taxes on the
transactions concluded outside the province provided that
there was a sufficient and real territorial nexus between such
transactions and the taxing province. This principle, which is
based on the decision in Wallace Broyhers and C. v.
Commissioner of Income Tax, Bombay[23]has been
held by the Supreme Court to be applicable in sales Tax
Legislation.
It thus appears, that the state legislature has within its
allotted field of legislation covered by the Entry 54 of list II
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by reason ofArticle 246 (3), exclusive power to make laws
for the state with regard to taxes on sales or purchases of
goods other than newspapers, subject of course, to
restrictions placed by Article 286.
All that is necessary is that the taxing law must be for
the purpose of the state. That being the case, in absence of
any constitutional limitation it was not necessary. for levy of
sales tax that all the component parts of the sale, such as
the contract of sale, passing of title, payment of price,
delivery of goods, must take place within the borders of the
taxing state.The doctrine of nexus is applicable to sales tax
legislation was further affirmed in United motors
Case [24]on this point has not been, in any way shaken by
the subsequent decision of the Supreme court in Bengal
Immunity Companys Case[25]
The Supreme Court in Tata Iron and Steel Company
v. State of Bihar[26] also recognized the Theory of
territorial nexus. It is stated in the case the presence of
goods at the date of agreement for the sale in the taxing
state or the production or manufacturing in the state ofgoods the property wherein eventually passed as a result of
the sale wherever it might have taken place, constituted a
sufficient nexus between`` he taxing state and the sale.
In State trading corporation v. State
of Mysore[27], the company made various sales of cement,
which were supplied from the factories outside the state of
Mysore to purchasers within the State. The State of Mysore
levied tax on these sales under the two sales tax acts passedby the Mysore legislature. The company applied Art.32 of the
Constitution to squash the assessment oeder on the ground
that the State had no power to tax the sales they had taken
place in the course of inter-state trade.
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The Court held that the sale occasions the movement ofgoods from one state to another within Section 3(a) of theCentral Sales tax Act when the movement is the resultant ofthe covenant or the incident of the contract of sale. In that
case, the contract of sale was deemed to have contained acovenant that the goods would be supplied in Mysore fromplace situated outside the borders and the sales weretherefore, interstate sales within Section 3 (a) of the Centralsales tax Act.
From the consideration of the decisions of the SupremeCourt cited above one principle that has clearly emerged outis the theory of territorial nexus has not ceased to operateand facilitates the machinery of taxation and enables tax
Federalism.
ConclusionThe essence of federal form of government is that theCentre and the State Governments should be independent ofeach other in their respective, constitutionally demarcatedspheres of Action. Once the fundamentals of the governmentare spelt out, it becomes equally important that each of thegovernment should be provided with sources of raisingadequate revenues to discharge the functions entrusted toit. For the successful operation of the federal form ofgovernment financial independence and adequacy form thebackbone.The constitution recognizes that the division ofresources and functions between the unions was such thatthere would be an imbalance between them. The FinanceCommission is envisaged in the Constitution as the keyinstitution responsible for dealing with fiscal imbalancesbetween the center and states, as well as among the states
The power to make laws with respect to taxes on the salesand purchase of goods vests both in the Union as well as inthe State legislatures. The union Parliament can make lawswith respect to taxes on the sale and purchase of goodsother than newspapers, except where such a sale orpurchase takes place in the course of inter-state trade orcommerce.The State Legislature, on the other hand, can
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impose sales tax on the sale or purchase of goods other thanthe newspapers, except where such a sale takes place in thecourse of interstate trade and commerce.
In the interest of the national economy, Article 246 and 286place certain restrictions on the plenary power of the statelegislatures to make laws with respect to sales tax. In Indiathe distribution between the Centre and the state withrespect to the sales tax clearly established the federalprinciples, which are existent in the country, and this is bythe virtue of the provisions of the Central Sales Tax Act,1956.
Herein, it can be clearly seen that the structure of sales
taxation clearly fits in the bracket for a federal structure. Thesales of a variety of goods of general use are more or lessconfined to the individual areas or states. Therefore, theallocation of general sales tax to the states is quiteappropriate. There are, however, certain commodities, whichenter inter-state trade. Different rates in different states onthe sale of these goods, therefore, may adversely affect thetrade. To avoid this difficulty, sometimes, Central co-ordination in the management and rates of these taxes isintroduced.
[1]Srivastava, D.K., Revenue Sharing Among the Sub-National Governments: Amodified Formula, NIPFP Working Paper No. 1 cited by Agarwal, P.K., Fiscalfederalism and Governance in India ,68, (New Delhi: Oxford Publications, 2000)
[2]Ahluwalia, Montek "Economic Performance of States in Post-Reforms Period",Economic and Political
Weekly, May 6, pp 1637-1648. (2001),
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[3]Anand, Mukesh, Amaresh Bagchi and Tapas K. Sen "Fiscal Discipline at the State level: Perverse
Incentives and Paths to Reform", Working Paper No. 1, January, (2002
[4]Singh, M.P., The Constitution of India, 961, (Lucknow: Eastern BookCompany,1994)[5] id at 966[6] Bagchi, Amresh, Tax Harmonization in Federalism- A survey of theory and
Practice, NIPFP Working Paper no.1, February. (1995)[7]Andley and Sundaram, Public Finance and Public Taxation,153,(New Delhi: RatanPrakashan, 2001)[8] (Murli Manohar and Co. v. State of Haryana (1991) 1 SCC 377). In this case, it wasobserved that they cannot conceive fourth category of sale.[9] If sale or purchase to Marketing Agency is in same State, it will be an Intra-Statesale even if goods are despatched outside the State as per instructions of themarketing agency. -ACC v. CST- AIR 1991 SC 1122[10]Item 92A of List I - Union List: Taxes on the sale and purchase of goods otherthan newspapers, where such sale or purchase takes place in the course of Inter-state trade or commerce[11]Item 54 of list II - State List - reads : Tax on sale or purchase of goods other thannewspapers except tax on Inter State sale or purchase
[12]Vithal, B.P.R., & Sastry, M.L., Fiscal Federalism in India, 115, (New Delhi, OxfordUniversity Press, 2000)[13] Singhania, V. Students Guide to Income Tax, 765, (New Delhi: TaxmannPublications, 2002)[14]Agarwal, P.K., Fiscal federalism and Governance in India ,192, (New Delhi:Oxford Publications, 2000)[15]Bagchi, Amresh, Tax Harmonization in Federalism- A survey of theory andPractice, NIPFP Working Paper no.1, February. (1995)[16] (1988) 70 STC 45 (SC),[17] AIR 1976 SC 1016[18]AIR 1992 SC 1952[19]. Balabhgas Hulaschand v. State of Orissa , (1976 SC 1016).[20]Oil India Co. Ltd. v. Superintendent of Taxes (1975) 35 STC 445 (SC)
[21] Singhania, V. Students Guide to Income Tax, 766, (New Delhi: TaxmannPublications, 2002)[22] AIR 1953 SC 274[23]AIR 1948 PC 118[24]AIR 1953 SC 252,[25] AIR 1955 Sc 661[26]AIR 1958 SC 452 ( 461)[27] AIR 1963 SC 548
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