Cheers importers cum traders - a bonanza from Ministry of Finance"

Central Government (Ministry of Finance) has issued a notification no. 102/2007 Cus dated 14.09.2007 to grant an exemption by way of refund from Additional Duty of Customs levied u/s 3(5) equal to 4%.

Note: - Additional duty u/s 3(5) of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 is being levied in lieu of Sales Tax / Value Added Tax / Local Taxes or other charges.

Such exemption shall be subject to the following conditions:

(a)  the importer of the said goods shall pay all duties, including the said additional duty of customs leviable thereon, as applicable, at the time of importation of the goods; 

(b) the importer, while issuing the invoice for sale of the said goods, shall specifically indicate in the invoice that in respect of the goods covered therein, no credit of the additional duty of customs levied under sub-section (5) of section 3 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 shall be admissible; 

(c) the importer shall file a claim for refund of the said additional duty of customs paid on the imported goods with the jurisdictional customs officer; 

(d) the importer shall pay on sale of the said goods, appropriate sales tax or value added tax, as the case may be;

(What is the meaning of appropriate sales tax? Not defined here but See our another TMI - Commentary on this issue)

Go give the due effect to the provisions and this notification and to prevent the misuse of this notification, following provisions have been amended / inserted:

- Rule 11 of Central Excise Rules, 2002 - Goods to be removed on Invoice - Two provisos to sub rule 11 have been inserted (Also see

- Rule 9 of Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004 - Documents and accounts - Proviso to sub rule 1 has been inserted

Also see: -

Chapter 14 of Cenvat Credit Manual (e-book) - Documents for Required for Availing Cenvat Credit

Chapter 18 of Cenvat Credit Manual (e-book) - First Stage / Second Stage Dealer 

Refund of Additional Duty of Customs allowed subject to invoice disclosure, sales tax compliance and refund claim procedures. Exemption by refund of the Additional Duty of Customs levied under subsection (5) of section 3 is subject to conditions: importers must pay all duties at import, file a refund claim with the jurisdictional customs officer, specify on sales invoices that no credit of the additional duty is admissible, and pay appropriate sales tax or VAT on sale. Consequential provisos have been added to Central Excise and Cenvat Credit rules and related manual guidance to prevent misuse.