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22.3.An impost; a tribute imposed on the subject; an excise; tallage. The general principles of taxation are these: — (1) The subjects of every estate ought to contribute to the support of the Government as nearly as possible in proportion to their respective abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively http://www.judis.nic.in  Judgment dated 22.04.2019 in TC No.1806 of 2008 [Tamil Nadu Minerals Limited vs. JCIT] enjoy under the protection of the State. In the observation or neglect of this maxim consists what is called the equality or in-equality of taxation. (2) The tax which each individual is bound to pay ought to be certain and not arbitrary. The time of payment, the manner of payment, the quantity to be paid, ought all to be clear and plain to the contributor and to every other person. (3) Every tax ought to be levied at the time or in the manner, in which it is most likely to be convenient for the contributor to pay it. (4) Every tax ought to be so contrived as both to take out and keep out of the pockets of the people as little as possible over and above what it brings into the public treasury of the State. Taxes are either direct or indirect. A direct tax is one that is demanded from the very persons who are intended or desired to pay it. Indirect taxes are those which are demanded from one person, in the expectation and intention that he shall indemnify himself at the expense of another, such as the excise or customs. [Wharton’s Law Lexicon.]

25.2.Property peculiar; reward or recompense for services. Also an estate of inheritance divided into three species: (1) fee-simple absolute; (2) qualified or base fee; (3) fee-tail, formerly fee- conditional.[Wharton’s Law Lexicon.] http://www.judis.nic.in  Judgment dated 22.04.2019 in TC No.1806 of 2008 [Tamil Nadu Minerals Limited vs. JCIT] 25.3.Fees are a sort of return or consideration for services rendered, which makes it necessary that there should be an element of quid pro quo in the imposition of a fee. There has to be a corelationship between the fee levied by an authority and the services rendered by it to the person who is required to pay the fee, Govt. of A.P. v. Hindustan Machine Tools Ltd., (1975) 2 SCC 274.

25.4.Perquisites allowed to officers in the administration of justice, as a recompense for their labour and trouble, ascertained either by Acts of Parliament, by rule or order of Court or by ancient usage.[Wharton’s Law Lexicon.] 25.5.Means the charges specified by the food authority for clearance of imported food consignments, [Regulation 2(j), Food Safety and Standards (Import) Regulations, 2017(India)].

35.Royalty and Dead rent — In State of Orissa v. Titaghur Paper Mills Co. Ltd., 1985 Supp SCC 280: 1985 SCC (Tax) 538, it was, inter alia, observed as follows: “102. … ‘Royalty’ is not a term used in legal parlance for the price of goods sold. ‘Royalty’ is defined in Jowitt's Dictionary of English Law, 5th Edn., Vol. 2, as follows: Royalty, a payment reserved by the grantor of a patent, lease of a mine or similar right and payable proportionately to the use made of the right by the grantee. It is usually a payment of money, but may be a payment in kind, that is, of part of the produce of the exercise of the http://www.judis.nic.in  Judgment dated 22.04.2019 in TC No.1806 of 2008 [Tamil Nadu Minerals Limited vs. JCIT] right. Royalty also means a payment which is made to an author or composer by a publisher in respect of each copy of his work which is sold or to an inventor in respect of each article sold under the patent. “Royalty” is not a tax. Simply because the royalty is levied by reference to the quantity of the minerals produced and the impugned cess too is quantified by taking into consideration the same quantity of the mineral produced, the latter does not become royalty. The former is the rent of the land on which the mine is situated or the price of the privilege of winning the minerals from the land parted with by the Government in favour of the mining lessee. The cess is a levy on mineral rights with impact on the land and quantified by reference to the quantum of mineral produced. It will be useful to know the meaning of the expressions “dead rent” and “royalty” and their connotation. Wharton's Law Lexicon, 14th Edn., at p. 300, defines dead rent as: “Dead rent. — A rent payable on a mining lease in addition to a royalty, so called because it is payable whether the mine is being worked or not.” Jowitt's Dictionary of English Law, 2nd Edn., at p. 555, defined “dead rent” as: Dead rent, a term sometimes used in mining leases in contradistinction to a royalty, to denote a fixed rent to be paid whether the mine is productive or not. The same dictionary states under the heading “Rent”, at p. 1544: “When a mine, quarry, http://www.judis.nic.in  Judgment dated 22.04.2019 in TC No.1806 of 2008 [Tamil Nadu Minerals Limited vs. JCIT] brickworks or similar property is leased, the lessor usually reserves not only a fixed yearly rent but also a royalty or galeage rent, consisting of royalties (q.v.) varying with the quantity of minerals, bricks, etc., produced during each year. In this case the fixed rent is called a dead rent.” “Royalty” is defined in Jowitt's Dictionary of English Law, 2nd Edn., at p. 1595, inter alia, as: “Royalty, a payment reserved by the grantor of a patent, lease of a mine or similar right and payable proportionately to the use made of the right by the grantee. It is usually a payment of money, but may be a payment in kind, that is, of part of the produce of the exercise of the right. See Rent.” “Royalty” is defined in Wharton's Law Lexicon, 14th Edn., at p. 893, as: “Royalty, payment to a patentee by agreement on every article made according to his patent; or to an author by a publisher on every copy of his book sold; or to the owner of minerals for the right of working the same on every ton or other weight raised.” In H.R.S. Murthy v. Collector, AIR 1965 SC 177: (1964) 6 SCR 666, this Court said that “royalty” normally connotes the payment made for the materials or minerals won from the land. In Halsbury's Laws of England, 4th Edn. in the volume which deals with “Mines, Minerals and Quarries”, namely, Vol. 31, it is stated in para 224 as follows: “235. Dead rent. — It is usual in mining leases to reserve both a fixed annual rent (otherwise known as http://www.judis.nic.in  Judgment dated 22.04.2019 in TC No.1806 of 2008 [Tamil Nadu Minerals Limited vs. JCIT] a ‘dead rent’, ‘minimum rent’ or ‘certain rent’) and royalties varying with the amount of minerals worked. The object of the fixed rent is to ensure that the lessee will work the mine; but it is sometimes ineffective for that purpose. Another function of the fixed rent is to ensure a definite minimum income to the lessor in respect of the demise, State of H.P. v. Gujarat Ambuja Cement Ltd., (2005) 6 SCC 499.