TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2003 (6) TMI 93
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....ems as mentioned in the Bill of Entry : "Towards sale of second-hand Offset Printing and Allied Machines : CIF Price (i) 1 No. Heidelberg, 2 Color Offset Press Size : 20½" x 29" Year of Mfg. 1993 Serial. No. 535537 Complete with all Accessories, Motors, Compressors and Electrical fittings Made in Germany USD 11,000 (ii) 1 No. Adast Dominant 745, 4 color offset press Year of Mfg. 1993, Serial No. 10627, Size : 19" x 26" Complete with all Accessories, Motors, Compressors and Electrical fittings Made in Czech Republic USD 20,000 (iii) 1 No. Mandelli Paper Cutting Machine Year of Mfg. 1993, Size : 115 Made in Italy USD 700 (iv) 1 No. Ryobi 960 CD, 1 Color Mi....
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....ontention of the appellant is that the order of valuation is contrary to the legal provisions contained in Section 14 of the Customs Act and Rule 4 of the Customs Valuation Rules as interpreted by the Apex Court. It is further contended that the finding regarding age of machine is incorrect and therefore, confiscation of the machine on that ground was also erroneous. It is further submitted that in any event, there was no misdeclaration of description or values of the goods inasmuch as the declarations truthfully reflected the transaction both in regard to goods in question and their price. 5. It is pointed out that the import is pursuant to purchase of the machines in a purely commercial transaction between strangers where price was the....
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....ufacture of accessories of the printing press could not be the correct indication of the year of manufacture of printing press itself, inasmuch as accessories manufactured during a later period could have been attached to the printing press manufactured in a later year. The appellant also points out that, for the same reason, the printing press could be treated as the production of 1995 inasmuch as the ink flow attached to the printing press had the year of manufacture marked as 1995. The appellant has also pointed out that the Commissioner had wrongly assumed the printing press to be of 1991 manufacture on the basis that the machine was manufactured in Czechoslovakia and since Czechoslovakia split into Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1991, ....
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....nfirming that import or assessment of the said import at that price are not available in the records of the case. The appellant's contention on the valuation is that since Commissioner has no reason to reject the transaction value, the entire exercise of ascertaining the value of the machine in 1993 and working out its 2002 price through the method of depreciation was unnecessary and impermissible. Further, the method of valuation adopted goes contrary to the finding that the machine was of 1991 manufacture. In respect of Heidelberg Offset Press, the Commissioner's order states that the value of similar machine has been found around Rs. 14.5 lakhs from contemporary records. Records referred to are purported imports at Nhava Shev....
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....the Commissioner of Customs, it could not have been valued based on the import of 1993. In any case, both the findings cannot be correct. In fact, both are without sound evidence. The only supporting materials in support of age of the machine is that the control panel has year 1991 marked on it and that Czechoslovakia split in 1991. The appellant is right in his contention that going by the year marked on an accessory like control panel could lead to erroneous conclusions. First of all, control panel is a separate entity from the printing press. Therefore, it could have been manufactured prior to manufacture of printing press. Secondly, the presence of ink flow, another accessory, with the marking of 1995 shows that parts and accessories ar....
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....round that it is lower than the price arrived at by depreciation method or cost of production method. In fact, the law states the opposite. Transaction value should constitute assessable value, even if the transaction value is lower than the cost of production or the historical value. In any case, second-hand goods market is a highly volatile one and follows no fixed rule. In the absence of any legal provision which permits the customs authorities to discard the transaction value of second-hand goods and determine their assessable value based on depreciation method, the course adopted in the impugned order cannot be sustained. Further, the price adopted is also not one accepted for assessment by the Customs authorities. Data has not been ta....