Actual high seas sale commission prevails over notional loading when contract and records support the declared amount.

Where imported goods are sold on a high seas sale basis and the commission is contractually fixed, the declared commission must be accepted if supported by the record. A notional loading of 2% of CIF value is not justified merely because a public notice permits such addition where no actual commission basis exists. In the absence of concrete evidence to discredit the agreed commission, the assessable value cannot be enhanced by substituting an assumed percentage for the actual charge. The operative effect is that the impugned enhancement of assessable value was set aside and the declared commission was upheld.

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Issues: Whether the value of imported goods sold on high seas sale basis could be enhanced by loading 2% of CIF value towards high seas sales charges instead of accepting the actual commission of Rs. 500/- agreed between the parties.

Analysis: The declared high seas sales commission was supported by a contractual arrangement and the record contained no concrete material to discredit the actual amount of Rs. 500/-. The guideline in Public Notice No. 145/2002 permitted addition of 2% service charges only where no basis for actual commission existed. In the absence of factual evidence to reject the declared commission, a notional loading based only on the public notice and departmental practice was unsustainable. The reasoning was consistent with the coordinate Bench view that the actual amount charged on high seas sale is to be added, not an assumed percentage.

Conclusion: The addition of 2% on CIF value was not justified and the declared high seas sales commission of Rs. 500/- had to be accepted.

Final Conclusion: The impugned enhancement of assessable value was set aside and the appeal succeeded.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the actual high seas sales commission is contractually fixed and supported by record, it cannot be replaced by a notional percentage loading in the absence of evidence to reject the declared amount.

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