Refunds :: Introduction
INTRODUCTION
A. GENERAL REFUND
The refund of Customs duties is
governed by Section 27 of Customs Act, 1962, and the same is reproduced below
SECTION
27. Claim for refund of duty. –
(1) Any person claiming refund of any [duty and interest, if any, paid
on such duty]
(i) paid by him in pursuance of an order of assessment; or
(ii) borne
by him,
may make an application
for refund of such [duty and interest, if any, paid on such duty] to the
[Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs] -
(a) in
the case of any import made by any individual for his personal use or by
Government or by any educational, research or charitable institution or
hospital, before the expiry of one year;
(b) in any other case,
before the expiry of six months, from the date of payment of [duty and
interest, if any, paid on such duty], [in such form and manner] as may be
specified in the regulations made in this behalf and the application shall be
accompanied by such documentary or other evidence (including the documents
referred to in section 28C) as the applicant may furnish to establish that the
amount of [duty and interest, if any, paid on such duty] in relation to which
such refund is claimed was collected from, or paid by, him and the incidence of
such [duty and interest, if any, paid on such duty] had not been passed on by
him to any other person :
Provided that where an
application for refund has been made before the commencement of the Central
Excises and Customs Laws (Amendment) Act, 1991, such application shall be
deemed to have been made under this sub-section and the same shall be dealt
with in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (2) :
Provided further that the
limitation of one year or six months, as the case may be, shall not apply where
any [duty and interest, if any, paid on such duty] has been paid under protest.
[Provided also that in the case of
goods which are exempt from payment of duty by a special order issued under
sub-section (2) of section 25, the limitation of one year or six months, as the
case may be, shall be computed from the date of issue of such order.]
[Provided also that where the duty
becomes refundable as a consequence of judgment, decree, order or direction of
the appellate authority, Appellate Tribunal or any court, the limitation of one
year or six months, as the case may be, shall be computed from the date of such
judgment, decree, order or direction.].
[Explanation
I.] - For the purposes of this sub-section, “the date of payment of
[duty and interest, if any, paid on such duty]”, in relation to a person, other
than the importer, shall be construed as “the date of purchase of goods” by
such person.
[Explanation II. -
Where any duty is paid provisionally under section 18, the limitation of one
year or six months, as the case may be, shall be computed from the date of
adjustment of duty after the final assessment thereof.].
(2) If, on receipt of any such application,
the [Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs] is
satisfied that the whole or any part of the [duty and interest, if any, paid on
such duty] paid by the applicant is refundable, he may make an order
accordingly and the amount so determined shall be credited to the Fund :
Provided that the amount
of [duty and interest, if any, paid on such duty] as determined by the
[Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs] under the
foregoing provisions of this sub-section shall, instead of being credited to
the Fund, be paid to the applicant, if such amount is relatable to -
(a) the
[duty and interest, if any, paid on such duty] paid by the importer, [or the
exporter, as the case may be] if he had not passed on the incidence of such
[duty and interest, if any, paid on such duty] to any other person;
(b) the
[duty and interest, if any, paid on such duty] on imports made by an individual
for his personal use;
(c) the
[duty and interest, if any, paid on such duty] borne by the buyer, if he had
not passed on the incidence of such [duty and interest, if any, paid on such
duty] to any other person;
(d) the
export duty as specified in section 26;
(e) drawback
of duty payable under sections 74 and 75;
(f) the [duty and
interest, if any, paid on such duty] borne by any other such class of
applicants as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official
Gazette, specify :
Provided further that no notification under clause (f) of the first
proviso shall be issued unless in the opinion of the Central Government the
incidence of [duty and interest, if any, paid on such duty] has not been passed
on by the persons concerned to any other person.
(3) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary
contained in any judgment, decree, order or direction of the Appellate Tribunal
[, National Tax Tribunal] or any Court or in any other provision of this Act or
the regulations made thereunder or any other law for
the time being in force, no refund shall be made except as provided in
sub-section (2).
(4) Every notification under clause (f) of the
first proviso to sub-section (2) shall be laid before each House of Parliament,
if it is sitting, as soon as may be after the issue of the notification, and,
if it is not sitting, within seven days of its re-assembly, and the Central
Government shall seek the approval of Parliament to the notification by a
resolution moved within a period of fifteen days beginning with the day on
which the notification is so laid before the House of the People and if
Parliament makes any modification in the notification or directs that the notification
should cease to have effect, the notification shall thereafter have effect only
in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be, but without
prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.
(5) For the removal of doubts, it is hereby
declared that any notification issued under clause (f) of the first proviso to
sub-section (2), including any such notification approved or modified under
sub-section (4), may be rescinded by the Central Government at any time by
notification in the Official Gazette.]
To process the refund claims filed by the claimants, the
Central Refund Cell was formed to deal with all kinds of refunds emanated from
the payment made in JNCH irrespective of the groups vide Standing Order
No.44/04 dated 14.10.2004 with effect 25.10.2004. This refund cell was bifurcated vide Standing
Order No.25/2008 dated 23.06.2008 with effect from 01.07.2008 to deal with the
refund claims of Special Additional Duty (SAD) under CRC –II. From then onwards, the CRC is called as CRC-I
to deal with all claims of refund other than SAD refund claims.
This section is headed by two DC/AC with
supporting staff to deal with the refund claims effectively and housed
at Third Floor of JNCH building.
The types of refund
claims dealt with in this section are as under
Duties of Import
Duties of Export
Cess
Lighthouse Dues
Refund of RF and PP, Revenue Deposits, Security Deposits,
Unaccompanied Baggage duty etc
B. REFUND OF SAD
Additional
duty of Customs (ADC) at 4% is chargeable under Section 5 of Section 3 of
Customs Tariff Act, 1975. This ADC is
commonly called as SAD and the charging Notification No is 19/2006 Cus dated 01.03.2006.
This ADC of 4% is charged to countervail state taxes/VAT
As per the Notification
No.102/2007 Cus dated 14.09.2007, the said ADC (SAD)
of 4% is refundable, if the importer sells the imported goods in the local
market and
collects sales tax from the buyer and pays
VAT to respective State Governments.
PUBLIC NOTICES
The
following Public Notices are issued from time to time for streamlining the
procedures for sanction of SAD refund
|
1 |
PN No. 40/08 dated 13.05.2008 |
Procedure
for refund |
|
2 |
PN No. 43/08 dated 06.06.2008 |
Procedure
to reduce documentation |
|
3. |
PN No. 48/08 dated 23.06.2008 |
Restructuring
of CRC Cell of JNCH |
|
4 |
PN No. 74/08 dated 17.10.2008 |
Clarification
for SAD refund |
|
5 |
PN No. 80/08 dated 03.11.2008 |
Refund
for re-credit of DEPB |
|
6 |
PN No. 82/08 dated 07.11.2008 |
Restructuring
of CRC Cell of JNCH |
|
7 |
PN No. 03/09 dated 29.01.2009 |
Restructuring
of CRC Cell of JNCH |
|
8 |
PN No. 04/09 dated 29.01.2009 |
Procedure
of refund |