2. Definitions. - In this Act unless the context otherwise requires,-
(1)"agriculture" with all its grammatical variations and cognate expressions includes horticulture, the raising of crops, grass garden produce, and also grazing; but does not include dairy fanning, poultry farming, stock breeding or the mere cutting of Svood or grass or gathering of fruit;(2)"agriculturist" means a person who cultivates land personally;(3)"appointed day" means the date on which the remaining provisions of this Act shall come into force under sub-section (3) of section 1;(4)"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 profit and whether or not any profit accrues from such trade, commerce, manufacture, adventure or concern; and(ii)any transaction of buying, selling or supplying plant, machinery, raw material, processing materials, packing materials, empties, consumable stores, waste products, or such other goods, or waste or scrap of any of them which is ancillary or incidental to or resulting from such trade, commerce, manufacture, adventure or concern;but does not include any activity in the nature of mere service or profession:(5)"Commission agent" means a dealer who bona fide buys or sells, for an agreed commission, any goods on behalf of principals mentioned in his accounts id respect of each transaction;(6)"Commissioner" means the person appointed to be the Commissioner of Sales Tax for the purposes of this Act;(7)"to cultivate" with all its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means to carry on any agricultural operation;(8)"to cultivate personally" means to cultivate on one's own account-(i)by one's own labour, or(ii)by the labour of one's own family, or(iii)by servants on wages payable in cash or kind (but not in crop share), or by hired labour under one's personal supervision or the personal supervision of any member of one's family:Explanation I. - A widow or a minor, or a person who is subject to any physical or mental disability or is a serving member of the armed forces of the Union, shall be deemed to cultivate land personally if it is cultivated by her or his servants or by hired labour;Explanation II. - In the case of a Hindu undivided family, land shall be deemed to be cultivated personally, if it is cultivated by any member of such family;(9)"declared goods" means declared goods as defined in the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 (LXX-IV of 1956);(10)"dealer" means any person who buys or sells goods in connection with his business; and includes Central Government, a State Government or any local authority and also any society, club or other association of persons which buys goods from or sells goods to its members or to other persons;Exception I. - An agriculturist who sells exclusively agricultural produce grown on land cultivated by him personally, shall not be deemed to be a dealer within the meaning of this clause;Exception II. - A charitable, religious or educational institution, carrying on the activity of manufacturing, buying, selling or supplying goods, in performance of its functions for achieving its avowed objects, shall not be deemed to be a dealer within the meaning of this clause;Exception III.-An individual who sells exclusively any fish or any seafood caught by him personally or by any member of his family on account of or on behalf of such individual, shall not be deemed to be a dealer within the meaning of this clause;(11)"earlier law" means any of the following laws, that is to say-(i)the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1946 (Bom. V of 1946),(ii)the Bombay Sales Tax (No. 2) Ordinance, 1952 (Bom. Ord. No. III of 1952),(iii)the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1953 (Bom. III of 1963),(iv)the Bombay Sales of Intoxicants Taxation Act, 1953 (Bom. XLVII of 1953),(v)the Saurashtra Sales Tax Ordinance, 1950 (San. Ord. No. XVIII of 1950),(vi)the Central Provinces and Berar Sales Tax Act, 1947 (C.P. and Berar Act No. XXI of 1947), as extended to the Kutch area of the State of Gujarat, or(vii)the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959 (Bom. LI of 1959),as amended from time to time and includes enactments which have validated anything done or omitted to be done under these laws:(12)"goods" means all kinds of movable property (not being news-papers or actionable claims, or stocks, shares or securities) and all materials, articles and commodities, including standing timber and things attached to or forming part of the land, which are agreed to be severed before sale or under the contract of sale;(13)"importer" means a dealer who brings any goods into the State, or to whom any goods are dispatched from any place outside the State;(14)"Licence" means a licence granted under section 31 or, as the case may be, section 36 and includes a Licence deemed to have been granted under this Act;(15)"Licensed dealer" means a Registered dealer holding a Licence;(16)"manufacture" with all its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means producing, making, extracting, collecting, altering, ornamenting, finishing or otherwise processing, treating, or adapting any goods; but does not include such manufactures or manufacturing processes as may be prescribed.(17)"Permit" means a permit granted to a Commission agent under section 33 and includes a Permit deemed to have been granted under this Act;(18)"person" includes any company or association or body of individuals, whether incorporated or not, a society, club or other institution and also a Hindu undivided family, a firm, a local authority. Central Government or a State Government;(19)"place of business" includes a ware-house, godown or other place where a dealer stores his goods and any place where he keeps his books of accounts;(20)"prescribed" means prescribed by rules;(21)"prohibited goods" means the goods described in entries 1 p. 25 (both inclusive) in Part A of Schedule II, or in entries 1 to 12 (both inclusive) in Part B of Schedule II or in entries 1 and 2 in Schedule III and such other goods as the State Government may, from time to time, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify, as such;(22)"purchase price" means the amount of valuable consideration paid or payable by a person for any purchase made including any sum charged for any thing done by the seller in respect of the goods at the time of or before delivery thereof, other than the cost of insurance for transit or of installation when such cost is separately charged;(23)"Recognized dealer" means a Registered dealer who holds a Recognition;(24)"Recognition" means a Recognition granted under section 32 and includes a Recognition deemed to have been granted under this Act;(25)"Registered dealer" means a dealer registered under section 29 or 30 and includes a dealer,-(i)who holds a certificate of registration deemed to have been granted under this Act; and(ii)to whom a fresh certificate of registration has been granted under section 30A;(26)"resale" for the purposes of sections 7, 8, 10, 13 and 15 means a sale of purchased goods;-(i)in the same form in which they were purchased, or(ii)without doing anything to them which amounts to, or results in, a manufacture, or(iii)being goods specified in entries 1 to 3 in Part A of Schedule II and in entries 1 to 6 in Part B of Schedule II without doing anything to them which takes them out of the description thereof in those entries,and the word "resell" shall be construed accordingly;(27)"rules" means rules made under this Act;(28)"sale" means a sale of goods made within the State, for cash or deferred payment or other valuable consideration, and includes any supply by a society or club or an association to its members on payment of a price or of fees or subscription', but does not include a mortgage, hypothecation, charge or pledge, and the words "sell", "buy" and "purchase" with all their grammatical variations and cognate expressions, shall be construed accordingly;Explanation. - For the purposes of this clause, sale within the State includes a sale determined to be inside the State in accordance with the principles formulated in sub-section (2) of section 4 of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 (LXX-IV of 1956);(29)"sale price" means the amount of valuable consideration paid or payable to a dealer for any sale made including any sum charged for anything done by the dealer in respect of the goods at the time of or before delivery thereof, other than the cost of insurance for transit or of installation when such cost is separately charged.(30)"Schedule" means a Schedule appended to this Act;(31)"the State" means the State of Gujarat;(32)"tax" means a sales tax, general sales tax, or purchase tax, payable under this Act;(33)"taxable goods" means goods other than those on the sale or purchase of which no tax is payable under section 5 or section 49 or a notification issued thereunder,(34)"Tribunal" means the Tribunal constituted under section 28;(35)"turnover of purchases" means the aggregate of the amounts of purchase price paid and payable by a dealer in respect of any purchase of goods made by him during a given period, after deducting the amount of purchase price, if any, refunded to the dealer by the seller in respect of any goods purchased from the seller and returned to him within the prescribed period;(36)"turnover of sales" means the aggregate of the amounts of sale price received and receivable by a dealer in respect of any sale of goods made during a given period after deducting the amount of sale price, if any, refunded by the dealer to a purchaser, in respect of any goods purchased and returned by the purchaser within the prescribed period; and(37)"year" means-(i)in relation to any dealer who maintains regular books of accounts the year by reference to which the accounts are maintained by him; and(ii)in relation to any other dealer, a financial year:Provided that a Registered dealer shall not be entitled to vary the year by reference to which he maintains his books of accounts, except with the consent of the Commissioner and upon such conditions as the Commissioner may determine.Chapter-IIIncidence and Levy of Tax
