s 3 Wholesale value
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, the wholesale value of any goods in respect of which tax is chargeable shall be taken to be the price which in the opinion of the Commissioners the goods would fetch, on a sale made at the time when the tax in respect of the goods becomes due by a person selling by wholesale in the open market in the United Kingdom to a retail trader carrying on business in the United Kingdom only, if no tax were chargeable in respect of the sale and it were made in the circumstances specified in Schedule 2 to this Act. (2) Where the goods to be valued are goods bought by a retail trader under a chargeable purchase (whether from a wholesale merchant or from the manufacturer of the goods), or imported in pursuance of a purchase by such a trader, then, unless it appears to the Commissioners— (a) that by reason of the quantity of goods comprised in the purchase, the price payable thereunder is lower than the price which would be paid by retail traders in general for goods of the like description ; or (b) that the retail trader, in carrying on his business in respect of such goods— (i) performs any of the functions usually performed by wholesale merchants, or (ii) otherwise enjoys any purchasing advantage over retail traders in general ; or (c) that the seller mainly sells to persons whose purchases are substantially greater than those made by the majority of retail traders, the wholesale value of the goods as determined under this section shall not exceed a sum equal to the price payable under the purchase, exclusive of tax and properly adjusted so as to take account of any circumstances differentiating the purchase from a sale made in the circumstances specified in Schedule 2 to this Act and of any difference between the actual state of the goods and the state in which they are to be assumed to be for the purposes of valuation. (3) Where the goods to be valued are not goods bought or imported as mentioned in subsection (2) of this section or, being such goods, are excluded from the operation of that subsection under paragraph (a), (b) or (c) thereof, the Commissioners shall, in determining the price which the goods would fetch on a sale made as mentioned in subsection (1) of this section, have regard to the extent to which goods of the like description are sold to retail traders in general by manufacturers as well as by wholesale merchants.