Person chargeable with duty must be the importer at importation; subsequent purchasers cannot be held liable where beneficial owner rules did not apply.
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....Person chargeable with duty must be the importer or owner who imported and cleared the goods at the relevant time; the beneficial owner concept was not available when the impugned notice issued, so a subsequent purchaser or non-importing alleged mastermind could not be validly served with a recovery notice. Each Bill of Entry is a separate unit of assessment under the customs scheme and goods cleared under distinct Bills cannot be aggregated for reclassification or reassessment. Importing components for domestic assembly to obtain a lower tariff constitutes lawful customs duty planning and does not, by itself, justify imposing duty on a non-importing buyer. The impugned demand was set aside.....
TaxTMI