Streamlining the procedure for refund of 4% Additional Duty of Customs in pursuance of Notification No. 102/2007-Customs dated 14.9.2007-Reg. - Customs - 05/2015

OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS (GENERAL) SAD REFUND SECTION, AIR CARGO COMPLEX, SAHAR, ANDHERI (EAST), MUMBAI. F.NO. S/3-Misc-06/2015-16 ACC (R)(G) Date : 19.07.2015 Facility Notice No.05/2015 Subject: Streamlining the procedure for refund of 4% Additional Duty of Customs in pursuance of Notification No. 102/2007-Customs dated 14.9.2007-Reg. Attention of all importers, members of trade, their agents and all concerned is invited to Customs Notification No. 102/2007-Cus. Dated 14/09/2007 , exempting Addl. Duty of Customs (SAD) leviable under Section 3(5) of the Customs Tariff Act on goods imported for subsequent sale, Board's Circular Nos.06/2008 16/2008-Customs , clarifying various related issues and this Custom House Public Notice no. 01/2009 prescribing documents and the procedure for refund of the same. 2. It has been brought to notice that although the CBEC Circular No.16/2008-Cus. Dated 13/10/2008 prescribes acceptance of copies of ST/VAT challans along with the certificate of the statutory auditor/Chartered Accountant, this Custom House requires submission of VAT/ST Challans, duly certified by the statutory auditor/Chartered Accountant of the importer, in terms of Public Notice No. 01/2009 dated 19/02/2009. It has been pointed out that in many cases the Chartered Accountants are not willing to certify the VAT/ST Challans and - they charge a fee for certifying every VAT/ST Challans. Therefore, it is expensive, cumbersome and time consuming procedure. 3. The issue has been examined and it is noticed that CBEC circulars on the subject do not prescribe submission of copy of ST/VAT Challan certified by the Chartered Accountant for sanction of refund. It is further seen that the statutory auditor/Chartered Accountant is also issuing a certificate in proforma at Annexure II to the Public Notice No. 01/2009 which gives details of each VAT/ST Challans and/or evidence for adjustment of input tax credit as effective discharge of ST/VAT payment on imported goods. As each ST/VAT Challan number with date and the amount paid under each challan is specified in the certificate, further certification of each copy of ST/VAT Challans does not serve any useful purpose. 4. In view of above, it has been decided that henceforth, copies of ST/VAT Challans along with a certificate of the statutory auditor/Chartered Accountant, as per the proforma annexed to this Facility Notice, shall be accepted for the purpose of sanction of refund of SAD. This will be subject to requiring the original ST/VAT payment challans or other similar documents, in doubtful cases, which shall be returned to the importer after verification, as per the instructions of the Board in Circular No.16/2008-Customs. 5. Apart from this it has been noticed that presently the claimants are required to submit four different certificates from statutory auditor/Chartered Accountant in Annexure 'D', 'II', 'III' and 'IV'. This is not only expensive, cumbersome and time consuming but also creates lot of duplication and confusion. Therefore, in order to avoid duplication and make it simple, it has been decided to merge the various certificates from statutory auditor/Chartered Accountant in Annexure 'D', 'II', 'III' and 'IV' into a single certificate in format Annexure 'E', enclosed to this Facility Notice. 6. Public Notice No. 01/2009 dated 19.02.2009 stands modified to the extent mentioned above. The instructions for acceptance of copies of ST/VAT Challans along with a certificate of the statutory auditor/ Chartered Accountant shall come into force from immediate effect and shall also apply to all pending claims. Annexure-'E' shall be mandatory from 1St August 2015 but it may be voluntarily adopted with immediate effect. (Jai Prakesh Singh) Commissioner of Customs (General) ANNEXURE-E Consolidated Certificate from the statutory auditor/chartered Accountant towards unjust enrichment, payment of appropriate ST/VAT, correlating payment of ST/VAT with the ale invoice and sale through consignment agent/stockiest for the purpose of refund Special Additional Duty in pursuance to Notification No. 102/2007-Customs dated 14/09/2007 . ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- With regard to the imports under Bill of Entry No.------------dated -----------------and TR6 Challan No.--------------- dated------------------, wherein the Special Additional Duty has been paid and the refund under Notification No. 102/2007 dated 14/09/2007 is sought by M/s.------------------- 2. it is clarified and declared that, we ., Membership No. -------------------------- are the statutory auditor/Chartered Accountant, who clarifies financial records under the Companies Act 1956 / any ST/VAT act of the State Government/ the Income Tax Act, 1961 or any other Statute, of M/s.-------------------------- 3. it is also certified that, sales tax authorities of M/s.---------------------------- accept payment of ST/VAT through cash or adjustment of input tax credit as effective discharge of ST/VAT payment on sale of imported goods. 4. For purpose of fulfillment of the conditions in Para 2(d) of the Notification No. 102/2007 dated 14-09-2007 and for considering sanction of refund of 4% SAD, we hereby certify that we have verified the original invoices of sale, along with supporting documents towards proof of payment of appropriate ST/VAT form the original VAT/CST payment on sale of imported goods. 5. The VAT/ST has been paid as below:- From the Month (Time Period) Amount of VAT/CST paid by Cash Challlans Amount of VAT/CST paid by Cash Challans Amount of VAT paid by adjustment of input tax credit Details of S.No. and Date of the entries verified from the records of the VAT Tax Payer Date S.No. 6. The refund being claimed herein is being shown in the Books of Account/ Balance Sheet as Amount due as refund of Additional duty of Customs and same amount has not been passed on to the buyers of the imported goods. After examination/audit the records, it is verified from records that the details as given in the enclosed Summary of Sale invoices are true details thereof. As required for examination of the 'principle of unjust enrichment' in the case before sanction of refund under Notification No. 102/2007 dated 14/09/2007 , this is certified that the burden of 4% CVD/SAD has not been passed on by the importer to the buyer and the importer would not be unjustly enriched by grant of refund applied for in this application. 7. In case of sale through consignment agent/stockist we certify that- (i) consignment agent/stockist M/s has been authorised to sell the imported goods in terms of the agreement entered into between the importer M/s . and consignment agent/stockist M/s.--------------------- (ii) that each of the sale invoices issued by the consignment agent/stockist indicates that the sale is made by him on behalf of the importer in the capacity of consignment agent/stockist. (iii) that appropriate ST/VAT has been paid by consignment agent/stockist M/s on behalf of importer M/s-----------------------and that the importer, M/s---------------------in turn, has paid or reimbursed the ST/VAT to his consignment agent/stockist M/s .along with the correlation of ST/VAT payment with 4% CVD paid on imported goods. Place: Date: CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT