Non-speaking reassessment direction on declared import value stayed for lack of recorded basis

A Commissioner (Appeals) direction to reassess a Bill of Entry on the declared value was found prima facie unsustainable because no basis was recorded for treating that declared value as the correct assessable value. The absence of reasoning rendered the direction a non-speaking order for interim purposes, and that deficiency justified protection against its immediate operation. The reassessment direction was therefore stayed pending further consideration.

---

---

Issues: Whether the Commissioner (Appeals) could direct reassessment of the Bill of Entry by accepting the declared value without recording any basis for treating it as the correct assessable value, and whether the impugned direction warranted interim stay.

Analysis: The impugned order did not set out any basis for concluding that the declared value was the correct assessable value. In the absence of such reasoning, the direction to reassess the Bill of Entry on the declared value was treated as prima facie a non-speaking order and therefore unsustainable for interim purposes.

Outcome: The operation of the impugned direction for reassessment of the Bill of Entry on the declared value was stayed.

---