Report No. 30
48. Two sets of sales-tax laws.-
We shall now deal with the existing laws relating to sales-tax1. These laws fall under two categories. The power to levy a tax on the sale or purchase of goods (other than newspapers), is vested in the States; but, from this power, are excluded sales and purchase which take place in the course of inter-State trade or commerce.
Sales or purchases in the course of inter-State trade are within the field of the Union. Therefore, there are two kinds of taxes on the sale or purchase of goods, namely, the State sales-tax, levied under the sales-tax law of the particular State, and the Central sales-tax, imposed under the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, in respect of sales in the course of infer-State trade or commerce.
1. Some of the points made in the paragraphs relating to State Sales Tax have been suggested by the Report of the Committee on Sales Tax (on commodities exported from India 1964), Government of India, Ministry of Commerce, pp. 110 and 111, Chapter 3, paras. 1 to 4.
49. Therefore, where an importer imports the goods, the sale by the foreign vendor to him is not liable to be taxed, but where he sells the goods to another, then that sale by him, unless it is regarded as falling under Article 286(1)(b) of the Constitution read with section 5 of the Central Sales Tax Act, is subject to sales-tax-the State sales tax or the Central sales-tax as the case may be, i.e., depending on whether the sale by the importer is or is not in the course of inter-State trade or commerce. (This is the general position, unless a specific exemption is granted under the State or Central Act).