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2. Definitions

(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, -

(a) “Act of 1973” means the Haryana General Sales Tax Act, 1973 (Act 20 of 1973);

(b) "appellate authority" means an officer referred to in, or appointed under, clause (a) or clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 33 to entertain and decide appeals made under this Act and includes the Tribunal;

(c) “appointed day” means the 1st day of April, 2003, unless declared, by notification in the Official Gazette, otherwise by the State Government;

(d) “assessee” means any person who is required to pay any tax, interest, penalty, fee or any other sum under this Act or the rules made thereunder;

(e) “assessing authority” means any person authorised by the State Government to make any assessment under this Act and to perform such other duties as may be required, by or under this Act;

(f) “business” includes -

(i) any trade, commerce or manufacture, or any adventure or concern in the nature of trade, commerce or manufacture, whether or not such trade, commerce, manufacture, adventure or concern is carried on with a motive to make gain or profit and whether or not any gain or profit accrues from such trade, commerce, manufacture, adventure or concern; and

(ii) any transaction, casual or otherwise, in connection with, or incidental or ancillary to, such trade, commerce, manufacture or concern.

Explanation.– “Trade” includes trade of goods and services;

(g) “capital goods” means plant, machinery, dies, tools and equipment purchased for use in the State in manufacture or processing of goods for sale or in the telecommunication network or in mining or in the generation or distribution of electricity or other form of power, provided such purchase is capitalised;

(h) “casual trader” means a dealer who imports into and sells goods in the State for a period not exceeding thirty days at a time or such other period as may be prescribed;

(i) “Central Act” means the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 (Act 74 of 1956);

(j) “contractee” means any person for whom or for whose benefit a works contract is executed;

(k) “contractor” means any person who executes either himself or through a sub-contractor a works contract;

(l) “date of sale” means a date recorded on an invoice or a delivery note, as the case may be, issued in accordance with the provisions of clause (a) of sub-section (2) of section 28;

(m) “dealer” means any person including a department of Government who carries on, whether regularly or otherwise, business, directly or otherwise, in the course of, or as a result of, which, or incidental, ancillary or causal thereto, whether regularly, casually, occasionally or otherwise, whether for cash, deferred payment, commission, remuneration or other valuable consideration, such person purchases, sells, supplies or distributes any goods in the State, or imports into, or exports out of, the State, any goods, irrespective of the fact that the main place of business of such person is outside the State and where the main place of business of such person is not in the State, includes the local manager or agent of such person in the State in respect of such business:

Provided that a person or a member of his family who sells within the State exclusively the agricultural produce grown by himself or grown on any land in which he has an interest whether as owner, usufructuary mortgagee, tenant or otherwise, shall not be deemed to be a dealer.

Explanation.- For the purpose of this clause,-

(i) a co-operative society or a club or any association which carries on business for and on behalf of its members, is a dealer;

(ii) a factor, a broker, a commission agent, a del credere agent, a dealer’s agent, an auctioneer or any other mercantile agent by whatever name called and whether of the same description as hereinbefore mentioned or not, who carries on any trade as principal, agent or in any other capacity, is a dealer;

(iii) any person or a body of persons including a department of Government who disposes of any goods in exercise of a statutory authority or a court order, or as unclaimed, confiscated or acquired property, or as unserviceable, scrap, surplus, old, obsolete or discarded material or waste products whether by auction or otherwise, directly or through an agent, for cash or for deferred payment or for any other valuable consideration shall, notwithstanding anything contained in clause (f) of this section or section 3 or any other provision of this Act, be deemed to be a dealer liable to pay tax, to the extent of such disposals, without prejudice to any liability which may accrue on account of the other provisions of this Act;

(n) “declared goods” shall have the meaning assigned to that expression in clause (c) of section 2 of the Central Act;

(o) “document” means title deeds, writing or inscription and includes electronic data, computer programs, computer tapes, computer discs or equipment and the like that furnishes evidence;

(oo) “electronic governance” means the use of electronic medium for,- (i) filing of any form, return, annexure, application, declaration, certificate, memorandum of appeal, communication, intimation or any other document; (ii) creation, retention or preservation of records; (iii) issue or grant of any form including statutory declaration form, order, notice, communication, intimation or certificate; and (iv) receipt of tax, interest, penalty or any other payment or refund of the same through Government treasury or banks authorized by the Government treasury.

(p) “exempted goods” means the goods specified in Schedule B;

(q) “export out of State” means transfer of goods by a dealer to any other place of his business or to his agent or principal, as the case may be, outside the State otherwise than by reason of sale of such goods but shall, subject to such restrictions and conditions as may be prescribed, not include transfer of goods for a job work where the goods are received back after the job work;

Explanation.– “Job work” includes assembling, altering, manufacturing, processing, fabrication, fitting out, improvement, rectification or repair of any goods.

(r) “goods” means every kind of movable property, tangible or intangible, other than newspapers, actionable claims, money, stocks and shares or securities but includes growing crops, grass, trees and things attached to or forming part of the land which are agreed to be severed before sale or under the contract of sale;

(s) “goods carrier” includes motor vehicle, vessel, boat, cart, animal or any other means of conveyance but shall exclude railway wagon or coach;

(t) “Government” means the Central or any State Government;

(u) “gross turnover” when used in relation to any dealer means the aggregate of the sale prices received or receivable in respect of any goods sold, whether as principal, agent or in any other capacity, by such dealer and includes the value of goods exported out of State or disposed of otherwise than by sale;

Explanation.- (i) The aggregate of prices of goods in respect of transactions of forward contracts, in which goods are actually not delivered, shall not be included in the gross turnover.

(ii) Any amount received or receivable or paid or payable on account of variation, escalation or de-escalation in the price of any goods sold previously to any person but not exactly determinable at that time, shall, subject to such conditions and restrictions, as may be prescribed, be included in, or excluded from, the gross turnover, as the case may be, in the manner prescribed.

(iii) Any amount collected by the dealer by way of tax shall not be included in the gross turnover and where no tax is shown to have been charged separately, it shall be excluded from the taxable turnover (denoted by ‘TTO’) taxable at a particular rate of tax in per cent (denoted by ‘r’) by applying the following formula –

tax = r x TTO,

100 + r

Illustration – If TTO is 220 and r is 10 (per cent), tax will be 20.

(v) “import into State” means bringing or receiving goods in the State from outside the State otherwise than by purchase of such goods in the course of inter-State trade or commerce or import of goods into the territory of India;

(w) “input tax” means the amount of tax actually paid to the State in respect of goods sold to a VAT dealer, which such dealer is allowed to take credit of as actual payment of tax by him, calculated in accordance with the provisions of section 8.

(x) “manufacture” means processing of goods resulting into production of different commercial goods including by-products and waste products;

Note – Every processing of goods may not result into different commercial goods;

(y) “minerals” mean all substances which can be obtained from the earth by mining, digging, drilling, dredging, hydraulicing, quarrying or by any other operation and include these substances processed for marketing;

(z) “place of business” in relation to a dealer means any place where the dealer carries on his business and includes –

(i) a place where he sells or purchases any goods, or carries on any process of manufacture of goods;

(ii) a warehouse, godown or other place where he stores his goods;

(iii) a place where he keeps his books of account;

(iv) any of his office or branch office; and

(v) the place of business of his agent, by whatever name called;

(za) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act;

(zb) “quarter” means a period of three months ending on 30th June, 30th September, 31st December or 31st March;

(zc) “registered” means registered under this Act;

(zd) “revising authority” means a person who exercises power of revision under this Act;

(ze) “sale” means any transfer of property in goods for cash or deferred payment or other valuable consideration except a mortgage or hypothecation of or a charge or pledge on goods; and includes –

(i) the transfer, otherwise than in pursuance of a contract, of property in any goods for cash, deferred payment or other valuable consideration;

(ii) the transfer of property in goods (whether as goods or in some other form) involved in the execution of a works contract;

(iii) the delivery of goods on hire-purchase or any system of payment by instalments;

(iv) the transfer of the right to use any goods for any purpose (whether or not for a specified period) for cash, deferred payment or other valuable consideration;

(v) the supply of goods by any unincorporated association or body of persons to a member thereof for cash, deferred payment or other valuable consideration;

(vi) the supply, by way of or as part of any service or in any other manner whatsoever, of goods, being food or any other article for human consumption or any drink (whether or not intoxicating), where such supply or service, is for cash, deferred payment or other valuable consideration, and such transfer, delivery or supply of any goods shall be deemed to be a sale of those goods by the person making the transfer, delivery or supply and a purchase of those goods by the person to whom such transfer, delivery or supply is made;

(zf) “sale in the State” in relation to a sale as defined in sub-clause (ii) of clause (ze) means transfer of property in goods (whether as goods or in some other form) involved in the execution of a works contract in the State;

(zg) “sale price” means the amount payable to a dealer as consideration for the sale of any goods, less any sum allowed at the time of sale as cash or trade discount according to the practice, normally prevailing in the trade, but inclusive of any sum charged for anything done by the dealer in respect of the goods at the time of or before the delivery thereof and the expression “purchase price” shall be construed accordingly;

Explanation.- (i) In relation to the transfer ofproperty in goods (whether as goods or in some other form) involved in execution of a works contract, sale price shall mean such amount as is arrived at by deducting from the amount of valuable consideration paid or payable to a person for the execution of such works contract, the amount representing labour and other service charges incurred for such execution, and where such labour and other service charges are not quantifiable, the sale price shall be the cost of acquisition of the goods and the margin of profit on them prevalent in the trade plus the cost of transferring the property in the goods and all other expenses in relation thereto till the property in them, whether as such or in any other form, passes to the contractee and where the property passes in a different form shall include the cost of conversion.

(ii) In respect of transactions covered under sub-clause (iii) of clause (ze), the amount to be included in sale price shall be the total sum payable by the hirer under a hire purchase agreement in order to complete the purchase of, or the acquisition of property in, the goods to which the agreement relates and includes any sum so payable by the hirer under the hire purchase agreement by way of a deposit or other initial payment, or credited or to be credited to him under such agreement on account of any such deposit or payment, whether that sum is to be or has been paid to the owner or to any person or is to be or has been discharged by payment of money or by transfer or delivery of goods or by any other means; but does not include any sum payable as a penalty or as compensation or damages for breach of the agreement.

(zh) “Schedule” means a Schedule appended to this Act and the description of any goods specified therein shall be subject to the exceptions, restrictions and conditions, if any, and the application of the provisions of this Act referring to the Schedule shall be subject to the circumstances, if any, mentioned therein generally or against such goods;

(zi) “State” means the State of Haryana;

(zj) “State Government” means the Government of Haryana;

(zk) “tax” means the tax levied under this Act;

(zl) “tax invoice” means an invoice required to be issued according to the provisions of sub-section

(2) of section 28 by a VAT dealer for sale of taxable goods to another VAT dealer for resale by him or for use by him in manufacture or processing of goods for sale, and which entitles him to claim input tax in accordance with the provisions of section 8;

(zm) “taxable goods” means the goods which are not exempted goods;

(zn) “taxable turnover” means that part of the gross turnover which is left after making deductions therefrom in accordance with the provisions of section 6; plus purchase value of goods liable to tax under sub-section (3) of section 3;

(zo) “taxing authority” means an officer not below the rank of Assistant Excise and Taxation Officer appointed under sub-section (1) of section 55 to carry out the purposes of this Act and includes an assessing authority and a revising authority but does not include an appellate authority;

(zp) “Tribunal” means the Tribunal constituted under section 57;

(zq) “value of goods” means, if the goods has been sold or purchased, the true sale price or the true purchase price, as the case may be, of the goods, otherwise, the fair market value of like goods in like circumstances;

(zr) “value added tax” means a tax on sale or purchase of goods payable under this Act;

(zs) “VAT dealer” means a registered dealer who is not a casual trader and in whose case composition of tax under section 9 is not in force, whether by choice or exclusion by law;

(zt) “works contract” includes any agreement for carrying out for cash, deferred payment or other valuable consideration, the assembling, construction, building, altering, manufacturing, processing, fabrication, installation, fitting out, improvement, repair or commissioning of any moveable or immovable property;

(zu) “year” means the financial year.

(2) Words and expressions not defined under this Act or the rules made there under shall have the same meaning as assigned to them in section 2, section 3, section 4, section 5or section 6A of the Central Act or the Punjab General Clauses Act, 1898 (Punjab Act 1 of 1898), as applicable to the State of Haryana, as the case may be.