E-payment of Customs duty mandatory
IN Circular No. dated 29.07.2011, CBEC had informed that in order to reduce the transaction cost of the importers and expedite the time taken for customs clearance, the Board has decided to make e-payment of duty mandatory for the importers paying an amount of Rupees one lakh or more per transaction. Additionally, for Accredited Clients under the Customs Accredited Client Programme irrespective of any amount of duty, the Customs duty will have to be paid through E- payment mode only. The date from which the E- payment will be made mandatory will be notified separately.
The Finance Act 2012 amended Section 47 (2) of the Customs Act to stipulate that, "Provided that the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify the class or classes of importers who shall pay such duty electronically"
In Circular No. 24/2012 dated 05 09 2012 [Please see DDT 1936 dated 06 09 2012], Board had informed that it had made e-payment of duty mandatory for importers registered under Accredited Clients Programme and importers paying customs duty of one lakh rupees or more per Bill of Entry with effect from 17.09.2012. But obviously at that time, they forgot to issue a notification as required under Section 47(2) - first proviso.
But they have realised this well in time and issued the notification yesterday. The Notification stipulates that the following classes of importers shall pay customs duty electronically, namely:-
(i) Importers registered under Accredited Clients Programme.
(ii) Importers paying customs duty of one lakh rupees or more per bill of entry.
This is to reduce your transaction cost; please pay the duty electronically.
Notification No. , Dated: September 17, 2012