Liability of excise duty on packaged accounting software

[Asked by Guest]

Sir, apropos your article on the subject, kindly clarify whether excise duty will be payable on accounting software( which is developed,packaged & sold by a foreign company in its brand name),when it is sold to a customer in India: (a)by the foreign company directly,through the internet, and sale proceeds are received abroad ' (b) by subsidiary of the foreign company in India without any value-addition or modification, either through the internet or 'off-the-shelf', and (c)by subsidiary of the foreign company in India with customisation or modification, either through the internet or 'off-the-shelf). Thank you

AI Summary

Customs duty applies to imported accounting software sold in India while excise may be avoided if customized domestically.
Imported packaged accounting software sold in India attracts customs duty rather than excise, whether sold directly by the foreign supplier or through an Indian office/subsidiary without value addition; where imported software is customized in India to customer specifications, it remains exempt from excise.