Drawback Shipping Bill - EDI - Higher Rate - CENVAT Credit and Broad Confusion
WHEN you export goods, you are entitled to a Drawback to offset the Customs and Excise duties and Service Tax suffered all the way till export. There are two rates of drawback - one when you have taken CENVAT credit and another when you have not taken credit.
While filing the duty drawback shipping bill at the time of export you are required to declare whether you have taken CENVAT credit or not. If you declare that you have not availed CENVAT credit, you will be asked to produce a Non-Availment of Cenvat Certificate and if you are not able to produce this certificate, your shipping bill is stuck. So what the clever Custom House Broker does is - to claim that he has availed CENVAT credit and thereby claiming less drawback. His Shipping Bill is through. Of course this does not prevent the exporter from subsequently claiming higher drawback.
Board has noticed that in some cases the amendment of the shipping bill was avoided even though the necessary certificate for claiming the higher AIR was not available at the time of export. The practice in such cases was to show, in the EDI System document menu, that the certificate is available, and simultaneously record contrary remarks in the ‘departmental comments' that certificate should be verified subsequently. Intent behind such remarks was that the certificate be seen at the time of drawback processing. However, instances were noticed where drawback was processed at the higher rate based on the details recorded in the EDI system rather than in the departmental comments.
Board declares, “Such a practice is not in harmony with the EDI's system-based checks and balances and places revenue at risk. The Board directs that such a practice should be strictly avoided and field formations should ensure that the prescribed procedure is scrupulously followed at the time of export.”
Why should the Board make drawback claims so complicated? As such every effort is made by every officer to deny every benefit to the assessee.
CBEC Instruction in F.No.609/156/2013-DBK, Dated: March 13, 2014