Declared transaction value and post-import sale restriction: invoice value accepted, 'no sale' condition lifted after redemption.

Declared transaction value was accepted for the imported car because there was no evidence that more than the invoice price had been paid and no basis to reject that value under the Customs Valuation Rules; the Revenue's challenge to abatement for extra fittings and refurbishments failed. The post-import 'no sale' restriction for two years was not sustained after confiscation and redemption, as the goods stood released from that trading condition once redemption was ordered. Confiscation remained upheld, while the reduced redemption fine and penalty were maintained.

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Issues: (i) Whether the invoice value had to be accepted for valuation of the imported car and whether abatement for extra fittings and refurbishments was permissible; (ii) whether the 'no sale' condition for two years could be sustained after confiscation and redemption.

Issue (i): Whether the invoice value had to be accepted for valuation of the imported car and whether abatement for extra fittings and refurbishments was permissible.

Analysis: The valuation issue turned on the absence of any material showing that the importer had paid more than the declared transaction value and the absence of circumstances that would justify departure from the declared value under Rule 4(2) of the Customs Valuation Rules. The reduction made by the appellate authority towards extra fittings and refurbishments was based on a binding prior decision of the same Tribunal Bench, and therefore the Revenue had no merit in challenging that approach.

Conclusion: The invoice value was accepted, and the Revenue's challenge to the abatement for extra fittings and refurbishments failed.

Issue (ii): Whether the 'no sale' condition for two years could be sustained after confiscation and redemption.

Analysis: The restriction on sale was examined as a post-import condition attached to the benefit claimed under the import scheme. Once confiscation and redemption fine were imposed, the car stood released from the post-import trading restriction, and the reasoning adopted by the appellate authority was supported by the Tribunal's earlier final order on the same point.

Conclusion: The lifting of the 'no sale' condition was upheld.

Final Conclusion: The Revenue's appeal failed, while the importer succeeded only on the valuation issue. Confiscation remained upheld, and the reduced redemption fine and penalty were maintained.

Ratio Decidendi: In the absence of evidence that more than the declared transaction value was paid and in the absence of circumstances warranting rejection of the declared value, the invoice value must be accepted; a post-import sale restriction cannot survive where the appellate relief effectively releases the goods from that condition.

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