TMI Blog1987 (7) TMI 539X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... les, ought to depend on, whether or not, surcharge would become leviable, had the assessment been made on each grower on his turnover of the goods., In other words, according to the respondents, the total sales turnover of cardamom should not be the criteria for imposition of surcharge. The Tribunal held that the respondent was only an agent, that the members whose crop was auctioned by the respondent were the principals, that the agent could be assessed under the Kerala General Sales Tax Act only on the aggregate turnover relating to the principals who were liable to tax under section 5 and that surcharge could likewise be levied only in respect of the turnover of those principals whose individual turnover was not less than Rs. 30,000. 3 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... pondent-assessee. 5.. The respondent-assessee is M/s. Cardamom Planters' Association, Bodinayakanur. It is an association of cardamom growers. They collect the produce of the growers who are members of the association and sell the entire quantity by auction or otherwise. They fall squarely within the definition of "dealer" in clause (viii) of section 2 of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act. The relevant portion of the definition is: "'Dealer' means any person who carries on the business of buying, selling, supplying or distributing goods, executing works contract, transferring the right to use any goods or supplying by way of or as part of any service, any goods directly or otherwise, whether for cash or for deferred payment, or for com ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the respondent is a dealer as defined in the Kerala General Sales Tax Act and that the aggregate amount realised on sale of cardamom is its turnover. Clause I of section 3 of the Kerala Surcharge on Taxes Act, 1957 reads: "3. Levy of surcharge on sales and purchase taxes.-(1) The tax payable under the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963, shall, in the case of a dealer whose turnover- (a) is not less than one lakh rupees but does not exceed ten lakhs rupees in a year, be increased by a surcharge at the rate of five per centum, and (b) exceeds ten lakhs rupees in a year, be increased by a surcharge at the rate of eight per centum, of the tax payable for that year, and the provisions of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963, shall appl ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the liability of the respondent is co-extensive with that of its principal and that if the principal is not liable to tax, the respondent, the agent cannot be made liable. We are not impressed with this argument. It is true that under the general law, the liability of an agent is co-extensive with that of the principal. But this rule is subject to the provisions contained in the Kerala General Sales Tax Act with which we are concerned. The statute specifically brings in an agent who carries on business on behalf of the principal within the definition of "dealer". "Turnover" as defined in the Act takes in the aggregate amount for which the goods are bought or sold by a dealer. Thus the Act makes the agent a dealer, and his entire turnover is ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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