An Act to formulate principles for determining when a sale or purchase of goods takes place in the course of inter-State trade or commerce or outside a State or in the course of import into or export from India, to provide for the levy, collection and distribution of taxes on sales of goods in the course of inter-Stale trade or commerce and to declare certain goods to be of special importance of inter-State trade or commerce and specify the restrictions and conditions to which State laws imposing taxes on the sale or purchase of such goods of special importance shall be subject.

Be it enacted by Parliament in the Seventh Year of the Republic of India as follows:-

CHAPTER 1 - PRELIMINARY

Short title, extent and commencement.

1. (1) This Act may be called the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956.

(2) It extends to the whole of India.

(3) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint, and different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this Act.

Definitions

2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-

(a) "appropriate State" means-

(i) in relation to a dealer who has one or more places of business situate in the same State, that State;

(ii) in relation to a dealer who has places of business situate in different States, every such State with respect to-the place or places of business situate within its territory;

¹[(aa) "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 in connection with, or incidental or ancillary to, such trade, commerce, manufacture, adventure or concern;

(ab) "crossing the customs frontiers of India" means crossing the limits of the area of a customs station in which imported goods or export goods are ordinarily kept before clearance by customs authorities.

Explanation : For the purposes of this clause, "customs station" and . customs authorities" shall have the same meanings as in the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962)];

²[(b) "dealer" means any person who carries on (whether regularly or other­wise) the business of buying, selling, supplying or distributing goods, directly or indirectly, for cash or for deferred payment, or for commission, remuneration or other valuable consideration, and includes-

(i) a local authority, a body corporate, a company, any co-operative society or other society, club, firm, Hindu undivided family or other association of persons which carries on such business ;

(ii) a factor, broker, commission agent, del credere agent, or any other mercantile agent, by whatever name called, and whether of the same description as hereinbefore mentioned or not, who carries on the business of buying, selling, supplying or distributing goods belonging to any principal whether disclosed or not; and

(iii) an auctioneer who carries on the business of selling or auctioning goods belonging to any principal, whether disclosed or not and whether the offer of the intending purchaser is accepted by him or by the principal or a nominee of the principal.

Explanation 1: Every person who acts as an agent, in any State, of a dealer residing outside that State and buys, sells, supplies, or distributes, goods in the State or acts on behalf of such dealer as-

(i) a mercantile agent as defined in the Sale of Goods Act, 1930 (3 of 1930), or

(ii) an agent for handling of goods or documents of title relating to goods, or

(iii) an agent for the collection or the payment of the sale price of goods or as a guarantor for such collection or payment,

and every local branch or office in a State of a firm registered outside that State or a company or other body corporate, the principal office or head­quarters whereof is outside that State, shall be deemed to be a dealer for the purposes of this Act.

Explanation 2: A Government which, whether or not in the course of business, buys, sells, supplies or distributes, goods, directly or otherwise, for cash or for deferred payment or for commission, remuneration or other valuable consideration, shall, except in relation to any sale, supply or distribution of surplus, un-serviceable or old stores or materials or waste products or obsolete or discarded machinery or parts or accessories thereof, be deemed to be a dealer for the purposes of this Act;]
(c) "declared goods" means goods declared under section 14 to be of special importance in inter-State trade or commerce;

(d) "goods" includes all materials, articles, commodities and all other kinds of movable property, but does not include newspapers, actionable claims, stocks, shares and securities;