New Delhi, (Samajweekly) In an attempt to facilitate faster clearance of imported goods, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has extended the facility of deferred payment of customs to public sector undertakings (PSUs).
Under the new norms, authorised PSUs would be allowed to clear the goods imported by them through customs first and then pay duty later, within 14 days.
“This measure is expected to result in speedier clearance of the goods imported by the PSUs, thereby helping them in their activities. In general, the duty payment is deferred by 15 days,” a statement from the Finance Ministry said.
The scheme of deferred payment of Customs duties was first introduced in November, 2016 for importers recognised by the CBIC as Authorised Economic Operators (AEOs). These importers are approved by the Customs on the basis of certain compliance parameters such as proper maintenance of records, secure internal controls, a good track record of legal compliance, etc.
The approved AEOs numbering 244 at present are given the facility of clearing their imported goods immediately and paying the admissible Customs duties thereon subsequently.
The inclusion of PSUs, both of the Centre and the states, in the scheme of deferred payment of Cusotms duty would require these importers to register with the CBIC on the basis of a recommendation letter from a Joint Secretary level officer of their administrative Minsitry/Department, a CBIC statement said.
CBIC further said that as an additional facilitation exercise, it has done away with the earlier requirement of the approved AEOs having to intimate every Customs Port of their entitlement to avail the facility of deferred payment of Cusotms duties.
This would now be handled centrally, which is expected to ease the compliance requirement fo the eligible importers. This will also aply to the approved PSUs.
It may be noted that the facility of deferred payment of Customs duties is a part of CBIC’s on-going next generational reform ‘Turant Customs’ which envisages a faceless, contactless and paperless Customs environment.
The objective is to enhance the ease of doing business and bring in more efficiency and improvement in turnaround time, ultimately leading to a reduction in the time and costs associated with the Customs clearance processes.
