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1. Calculation of landing charges for determining the assessable value in customs duty assessment. Analysis: The judgment by the Appellate Tribunal CEGAT, New Delhi involved nine appeals by the Department challenging the order of the Collector of Customs (Appeals) regarding the calculation of landing charges for assessing the value of imported goods. The respondents had registered their purchase order under Project Import Regulations for the expansion of their refinery project. The bills of entry were provisionally assessed under project imports, and upon completion of the project, the importer claimed actual landing charges. The Assistant Collector had finalized the bills of entry by adding a notional landing charge of 1.3% to the CIF value. The lower appellate authority considered the issue of whether landing charges should be based on actuals or notional rates, citing previous CEGAT judgments. The Tribunal noted that there was no prohibition on including actual landing charges for determining the assessable value, as established in various previous cases. The Tribunal referred to cases such as MRF Ltd. v. Collector of Central Excise, Deepak Fertilizers and Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd. v. Collector of Customs, Ceat Tyres v. Collector of Customs, and Collector of Customs v. India Poly Fibres to highlight the importance of substantiating the actual payment of landing charges for inclusion in the assessable value. The reasoning behind assessing landing charges based on notional rates was explained to avoid administrative burdens and impracticalities associated with re-opening assessments for small refund amounts. The Tribunal emphasized the need for practical interpretation of the law and the established practice of averaging landing charges to maintain efficiency in customs assessment procedures. The Tribunal further supported the inclusion of actual landing charges in the assessable value by referring to a recent decision in the case of Collector of Customs v. Hindustan Zinc. Given that the bills of entry in question were only provisionally assessed and pending final evaluation, the Tribunal directed that the final assessment should include actual landing charges for determining the assessable value. The judgment upheld the lower appellate authority's decision and dismissed the Department's appeals, affirming the inclusion of actual landing charges in the customs duty assessment process.
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