Actual freight deduction under excise valuation allowed, while equalized freight required verification of invoices and duty payment.

Rule 5 of the Central Excise Valuation Rules, 2000 permits deduction of actual freight from assessable value, but not deduction of equalized freight. Where an assessee charged equalized freight, the authority accepted that deduction could still be allowed to the extent of freight actually paid, provided invoices and payment records were examined. The matter was therefore remitted to the original authority to verify the actual freight component and confirm whether duty had been discharged after excluding that amount.

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Issues: Whether deduction of actual freight from the assessable value was permissible where the assessee had charged equalized freight, and whether the matter required verification of the actual freight component.

Analysis: Rule 5 of the Central Excise Valuation (Determination of Price of Excisable Goods) Rules, 2000 permits deduction of actual freight from the assessable value, but not deduction of equalized freight. The order nevertheless accepted that an assessee claiming equalized freight cannot be denied deduction of the freight actually paid, and that the relevant invoices and payments had to be examined to verify whether duty had been discharged after excluding the actual freight.

Conclusion: Deduction of actual freight was held permissible, the claim for deduction of equalized freight was not accepted, and the matter was sent back to the original authority to verify the actual freight and related duty payment.

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