Two wrong exemptions

By Vijay Kumar

A netizen wrote to us, “As per suggestion on the message board by a netizen, criticism is to be restricted. But when the matters are handled in a wishy washy manner without proper perspective and clarity thus dragging the assesses and field officers to an avoidable tussle for no reason and no revenue gain, it is inevitable that major issues get exposed.

He points out two such instances on Customs Notifications-

(i)- On white sugar- As per notification no.63/06-cusdt.23-06-06 a new sl.no. 38-A was inserted in the notn.no. 21/2002-cusdt. 01-03-2002 -this was effective only upto 30-09-2006. The entries relating there to exempted -white sugar falling under 1701.91.00 And 1701.99.90 from the whole of basic customs duty ..But actually the heading should have been 1701.11.90 and 1701.99.90; because 1701.91.00 is 'refined sugar containing added flavouring or colouring material'.

(ii)-Borax: Budget Explanatory note vis-à-vis notification- The budget explanatory notes(customs) against chapter 28.7 reads-'Customs duty on Borax and Boric Acid is being reduced from 15% to 10%.' However, the amendment made to notn.no.21/2002-cus. Dt.01-03-2002 relating to Sl.No.522 indicates - in col.2 heading as 2810 and in col.3-description as 'Borax or Boric acid'. Here the boric acid alone is covered by 2810;Borax falls under 2840.(as so classified by customs house). Thus for want of heading 2840 in col.2alongwith 2810, the customs is not allowing the rate @10% for import of Borax. Thus if the explanatory note is to be relied upon, the entry 2840 also should have been shown in col.2 against sl.no.522.ofnotn.no.21/2002-cus.