Customs valuation rejects invoice deductions for alleged transit loss without reliable contemporaneous proof of actual shortfall.

A deduction from invoice price for customs valuation cannot be allowed as transit loss or discount unless actual loss or a legally recognisable price reduction is shown by reliable contemporaneous evidence. The invoices showed a 2 kg per drum deduction for transit and invisible loss, but no material established a negotiated discount, no goods were weighed on arrival to verify the claimed loss, and no pre-clearance steps proved a shortfall. Because the price already reflected an earlier discount, the claimed deduction was not treated as an additional discount or a price reduction available to all customers, and the assessable value remained based on the invoice price.

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Issues: Whether the deduction of the price of 2 kgs. per drum shown in the invoices as being on account of transit and invisible loss could be excluded from the invoice price for customs valuation.

Analysis: The invoices recorded a deduction of 2 kgs. per drum on account of transit and invisible loss. No material was produced to show that the reduction represented a negotiated discount or a general price reduction. The goods were not weighed on arrival to verify any actual loss, and no contemporaneous steps were taken before clearance to establish a shortfall. The price already reflected an earlier discount, and the claimed deduction could not be treated as an additional discount or as a price reduction available to all customers.

Conclusion: The deduction was not allowable, and the assessable value was correctly taken on the basis of the invoice price without further reduction, against the assessee.

Final Conclusion: The appeal failed and the customs valuation made by the lower authorities was left undisturbed.

Ratio Decidendi: A deduction from invoice price in customs valuation cannot be allowed as transit loss or discount unless actual loss or a legally recognisable price reduction is established by reliable contemporaneous evidence.

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