Post-clearance discounts cannot reduce assessable value unless known at removal and properly supported by records.

Discounts must be established as clear, known, and existing at the time of removal to be excluded from assessable value; post-clearance arrangements, later events, and discounts not reflected in invoices or pre-notified to buyers do not satisfy the valuation requirement. Where the record shows no verified common practice or structural policy supporting such discounts, an order based on inference and presumption cannot stand. On that basis, the valuation-based refund disallowance was held unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether discounts not pre-notified and arising only after clearance could be excluded from assessable value and whether the refund claim based on such valuation was liable to be disallowed.

Analysis: The impugned order was found to rest on inference and presumption rather than verification of documents and facts. The discounts were not shown in the invoices, were not part of any common practice or structural policy, and were not pre-notified or known to buyers at the time of clearance. Discounts arising from post-clearance arrangements and subsequent events such as damage of goods did not satisfy the requirements of the valuation provision, which contemplates discounts that are clear and known at the time of removal.

Conclusion: The impugned order was unsustainable and the appeal succeeded.

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