Simplified regulatory framework for e-commerce exports of jewellery through courier mode (Press release 14 July 2022)

A simplified regulatory framework for e-commerce exports of jewellery through courier mode has been issued on 30.06.2022 by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) in the form of a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).

The SOP details the handling, movement and procedural aspects for such exports, based on electronic declarations, through International Courier Terminals.

The framework keeps in view the need for uniformity of action by Customs that brings certainty for the trade. It also addresses a unique requirement of the e-commerce Eco-system for re-import of rejects in certain cases to the prescribed extent.

It may be recalled that the implementation of simplified framework was announced by Union Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman in this year’s Budget speech. Following this, the CBIC held wide-ranging consultations with stakeholders, such as industry associations, members of the trade, e-commerce operators, authorised couriers and the customs field formations, before finalizing the SOP. A period of one month has been provided for transition. The first phase begins with exports through Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai locations.

Click CBIC Circular No 09/2022-Customs dated 30.06.2022 to view the SOP and Notification.

DRI unearths Customs duty evasion of Rs. 4389 crore by Oppo India (Press release 13 July 2022)

During an investigation pertaining to M/s Oppo Mobiles India Private Limited (hereinafter referred to as ‘Oppo India’), a subsidiary company of “Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corporation Ltd”, China (hereinafter referred to as ‘Oppo China’), the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has detected Customs duty evasion of around Rs 4,389 crore. Oppo India is engaged in the business of manufacturing, assembling, wholesale trading, distribution of mobile handsets and accessories thereof, across India. Oppo India deals in various brands of mobile phones, including Oppo, OnePlus and Realme.

During the course of investigation, searches were conducted by DRI at the office premises of Oppo India and residences of its key management employees, which led to the recovery of incriminating evidence indicating wilful mis-declaration in the description of certain items imported by Oppo India for use in the manufacture of mobile phones. This mis-declaration resulted in wrongful availment of ineligible duty exemption benefits by Oppo India amounting to Rs 2,981 crore. Among others, senior management employees and domestic suppliers of Oppo India were questioned, who in their voluntary statements accepted the submission of wrongful description before the Customs Authorities at the time of import.

Investigation also revealed that Oppo India had remitted / made provisions for payment of ‘Royalty’ and ‘Licence Fee’ to various multinational companies, including those based in China, in lieu of use of proprietary technology/brand/IPR license etc. The said ‘Royalty’ and ‘Licence Fees’ paid by Oppo India were not being added in the transaction value of the goods imported by them, in violation of Section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962, read with Rule 10 of the Customs Valuation (Determination of Value of Imported Goods) Rules 2007. The alleged duty evasion by M/s Oppo India on this account is Rs. 1,408 crore.

A sum of Rs 450 crore has been voluntarily deposited by Oppo India, as partial differential Customs duty short paid by them.

After completion of the investigation, a Show Cause Notice has been issued to Oppo India demanding Customs duty amounting to Rs. 4,389 crore. The said Notice also proposes relevant penalties on Oppo India, its employees and Oppo China, under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962.

CBIC to launch “E-Lecture Series by Eminent Personalities on topics of national interest and indirect taxation”

CBIC to launch “E-Lecture Series by Eminent Personalities on topics of national interest and indirect taxation” tomorrow


RBI Governor Shri Shaktikanta Das to give Opening Lecture on “Indian Businesses (Past, Present and Future)”

As part of celebrations of “ICONIC Week”, Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) is launching “E-Lecture Series by Eminent Personalities” tomorrow. The Ministry of Finance is celebrating the “ICONIC Week” from June 6th to 12th as part of the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ (AKAM) celebrations to mark the 75th year of India’s Independence. These celebrations were kick started by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi in New Delhi on 06th June, 2022.

Shri Shaktikanta Das, Governor, RBI, will be delivering the Opening Lecture on “Indian Businesses (Past, Present and Future)” at Yashwantrao Chavan Centre, Nariman Point, Mumbai on 9th June, 2022. The lecture will be attended by Shri Tarun Bajaj, Secretary, Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Government of India; Shri Vivek Johri, Chairman, CBIC, besides other members of CBIC.

Weblink of e-Lecture series: https://youtu.be/Mqxaoe_dJRI

The event is being hosted by the CBIC Chairman and organised by Mumbai Customs Zone-I. The event is also being attended by leading personalities of trade, industry and senior officials of Centre and State Govt. The event will be live steamed via the Internet on the CBIC YouTube Channel and the CBIC Facebook Page.

Sources: Ministry of Finance Press Release

Release Id :-1832193

DRI seizes 8 kg Cocaine worth Rs 80 crore from inbound passengers at Hyderabad International Airport (Press release 02 May 2022)

Acting on specific intelligence, the officers of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) unraveled two cases of Cocaine seizures at the Hyderabad International Airport in a late-night operation on 1st May 2022.

Two air passengers i.e., a male Tanzanian national, travelling from Cape Town to Hyderabad via Dubai on a Business Visa and a lady passenger from Angola, with itinerary Angola – Mozambique – Lusaka – Dubai – Hyderabad on a Tourist Visa were apprehended by DRI on suspicion of them carrying narcotic substances on 1st May 2022.

A total of 8 kg of Cocaine, each passenger carrying 4 kg, were seized from the passengers from the packets concealed in the false bottom of their trolley bags. The estimated value of the seized Cocaine in the illicit market is Rs. 80 crore.

The instances of smuggling drugs through Air have increased with easing restrictions on air travel and increased passenger traffic. While Indian Customs have facilitated the clearances smoothly, the alert officers have busted the drug smuggling syndicates and nabbed carriers on multiple occasions across the country. Ingenious ways of transporting the contraband have been noticed by way of laminating drugs finely into their baggage which are almost invisible to the naked eye or by concealment in shampoos and food items or at times the passenger becomes body carrier by ingesting drugs in laminated capsules.

Multiple cases involving seizure of Cocaine concealed in the form of pills ingested by air passengers have been booked by the DRI in the last four months. In two such cases booked in Mumbai during March and April 2022, a total of 2.42 kg of Cocaine was found concealed in pills ingested by two passengers.

In April 2022, 1.15 kg of Cocaine concealed in pills ingested by a passenger was seized at Hyderabad, and in another case one kg of Cocaine was seized at Bengaluru in August 2021. Apart from Mumbai and Hyderabad, seizures of Cocaine have also been affected at other airports also.

Sustained efforts of DRI has led to seizure of more than 350 kg of Cocaine, estimated to be worth Rs. 3,500 crore in illicit market, across the country after January, 2021. This includes a big haul of about 303 kg of Cocaine, seized from a containerised cargo at Tuticorin Port.

CBIC Chairman releases National Time Release Study, 2022

Shri Vivek Johri, Chairman, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), presented a set of Time Release Studies (TRS) conducted by the department.

TRS are essentially a performance measurement tool for assessing the cargo clearance process of the international trade, as recommended by the World Trade Organization (WTO) under the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) and the World Customs Organization (WCO). It adopts average cargo release time, i.e. the time taken from the arrival of the cargo at the customs station to its eventual release for import or export, as the case may be.

The National Time Release Study (NTRS) 2022 covered 15 major Customs formations, including four port categories – seaports, air cargo complexes (ACCs), inland container depot (ICDs) and integrated check posts (ICPs), which handle about 80 percent of the bills of entry (imports documents) and 70 percent of the shipping bills (export documents) and is based on the sample period between 1st – 7th January 2022.  

The NTRS 2022 has reported further improvement in the average cargo release time for all the four port categories in 2022 over corresponding period of the previous year: by 2 percent for ICPs to significantly higher 16 percent for ACCs. For the sea cargo cleared through the sea port or inland container depots average release time has improved by 12 percent. With this improvement, the ICPs have achieved the National Trade Facilitation Action Plan (NTFAP) target release time to be achieved by 2023, whereas the other three port categories have reached 75 percent of NTFAP target.

NTRS 2022 and the Custom House level Time Release Studies, which have been conducted using the same data set, obtained from the customs automated system and following the same methodology, have found strong affirmation for the four-fold ‘path to promptness’ , namely:

advance filing of import documents enabling pre-arrival processing,risk based facilitation of cargo,benefits of trusted client program – Authorized Economic Operators, andDirect Port Delivery (DPD) facility.

 

In case of Exports, the Study noted that the documentary clearance of export consignments, measured by the time taken from arrival of the  goods at the customs station to grant of Let Export Order has been significantly minimized, ranging from 4:04 hours in the case of ACCs to 47:41 hours in the case of ICDs. This time is within the differential NTFAP target for the four port categories. However, the studies have found that on account of various logistics processes, the time taken in the eventual export after the regulatory clearance, takes long time – accounting from 60 percent of the total time in the case of integrated check post to 92 percent in the case of air cargo.

 

It may be mentioned that JNCH was the first major Custom House to initiate annual TRS beginning in 2017, and NTRS 2022 shows that the average import cargo release time has been halved since then.

 

NTRS 2022 and local TRSs have also made certain recommendations to further reduce the average release time targets to meet the targets set out in the NTFAP and improve the trade facilitative eco-system in the country. 

 

Copy of the NTRS 2022 is available on the CBIC website [cbic.gov.in] and other Time Release Studies are being made available on the websites of the respective formations.

Delhi Customs seize 5.85 kg cocaine, the biggest at any airport in India, on 6th April 2022 night

Delhi Customs seize 5.85 kg cocaine, the biggest at any airport in India, on 6th April 2022 night


In past six months, Delhi Airport Customs seized 33.70 kg of Heroin and 12.60 kg  Cocaine at IGI Airport

35 cases booked by Customs at IGI Airport, with street value of drug seized at Rs. 887.35 crore and 34 passengers arrested in 2021-22 alonePosted Date:- Apr 07, 2022

The Delhi Airport Customs seized 5.85 kg cocaine, the biggest at any airport in India, on 6th April 2022 night at the IGI International Airport. The seizure last night by the Delhi Customs signifies the fight carried out by the Indian Customs against the menace of drugs.

5.85 kg cocaine was seized by Delhi Customs at IGI Airport on 6th April 2022.

Continuous flow from source countries have made drug accessibility easy. IGI Airport, being the premier Capital airport of the country receives lakhs of passengers annually, some of whom are actively operating as drugs carriers. Customs at IGI Airport is waging a relentless fight against such carriers and their handlers.

In the past six months, Customs at the IGI Airport alone has booked no less than 16 cases under NDPS Act, the highest number at any airport in the Country. In the process, almost 33.70 kg of Heroin and 12.60 kg of Cocaine has been seized from International passengers, mostly nationals of African origin. For the entire 2021-22, 35 cases booked by Customs at IGI Airport, with a street value of drugs estimated at Rs. 887.35 crore. 34 passengers have also been arrested in the process.

Two distinct modus operandi have been observed in these seizures. Some of the passengers pack the drugs inside latex capsules, which are then swallowed by them in order to get past Customs officers easily at the Airport. Later, they eject these capsules after consuming laxatives, running a great risk to their own lives. This modus operandi is not only very difficult to detect, but also very difficult to retrieve. The suspected passengers need to be admitted to government hospitals, where the extraction is conducted under medical supervision. This process often takes 4 to 5 days, sometimes longer. Needless to add, these passengers are kept constantly under strict observation and guarded day-and-night by the Customs officers, at great risk to their own lives due to COVID-19 pandemic. The seizure of narcotics drugs at the airport is just the beginning of a tough, long legal battle that ensues later.

In the second method, the drug is concealed in specially made cavities in the hand-baggage or Checked-in baggage being carried by the passengers. Such cases are detected by the combined use of the Customs Canine Squad and High-resolution X-ray. Both these modus operandi have been detected at IGI Airport. The expanding market and the remunerative lucrativeness has ensured that there is no reduction in the relentless flow of drugs attempted to be smuggled into India though the airports.

Reduction of compliances and end-to-end automation of procedure relating to import of certain goods at concessional rate of duty (Press release 02 March 2022)

In a significant step towards Atmanirbhar Bharat, Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) has reduced the compliances required under the Customs (Import of Goods at Concessional Rate of Duty-IGCR) Rules, 2017 and introduced end to end automation of the procedure involved. Towards this end, the online portal has gone live on www.icegate.gov.in today. Importers desirous of availing exemptions linked to these Rules may register on the portal now.

The above rules provide for procedural safeguards to ensure that the goods imported at a concessional rate of duty, subject to an end-use condition, are used for the purpose specified in the exemption notification.

Based on the feedback from the Industry, the procedures were simplified and made paperless and contactless with end-to-end automation. The changes brought about are summarized as follows:

  1. All the intimations for claiming such exemptions can be submitted electronically, through a common portal that has been notified.
  2. The various forms in which details need to be submitted electronically have also been standardized and notified.
  3. The transaction-based permissions and intimations which were a part of the erstwhile procedures have now been done away with.
  4. Instead of a quarterly return, for effective monitoring of the use of goods for the intended purposes, a monthly statement has been introduced. This statement shall also be submitted by the importer electronically on the Common Portal.
  5. Accepting the demand of the trade, a specific provision has been introduced clarifying the procedure for allowing imported goods for inter-unit transfer.
  6. In order to further ease the procedures, an option for voluntary payment through the Common Portal, as specified in the Rules, is being enabled shortly.

For the sake of clarity among trade and industry, the procedure set out in the IGCR Rules, 2017 and the guidelines for smooth implementation have been clarified and elaborated through the Customs Circular 04/2022 dated 27-02-2022. Further, in order to familiarize the trade with the new system based architecture, the DG Systems, CBIC has published System Advisory 06/2022, dated 01-03-2022 andSystem Advisory 07/2022, dated 01-03-2022.

In addition, the importers have been given an option to follow the erstwhile procedure till 13.03.2022, so as to facilitate the transition in a smooth and seamless manner.

In case of any clarifications/ issues on the modalities involved, the member of the trade can reach out to dircus@nic.in. Regarding system related issues, the users can reach out to ICEGATE helpdesk at 1800-3010-1000 or icegatehelpdesk@icegate.gov.in.

BUDGET 2022 (Download all budget documents) -01st Feb 2022)

Key to Budget Document, 2022

https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/doc/Key_to_Budget_Document_2021.pdf

Budget Highlights (Key Features)

https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/doc/bh1.pdf

Annual Financial Statement
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https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/#collapse2

Memorandum Explaining the Provisions in the Financial Bill

https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/doc/memo.pdf

Finance Bill

https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/doc/Finance_Bill.pdf

Statements of Fiscal Policy under the FRBM Act, 2003

https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/doc/frbm1.pdf

Output Outcome Framework for Schemes 2022-2023

https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/doc/OutcomeBudgetE2021_2022.pdf

Customs Notifications
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https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/#custom

Implementation of Budget Announcements 2021-2022

https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/doc/impbud2020-21.pdf

Budget at a Glance
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https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/#budget

Expenditure Profile
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https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/#expen

Expenditure Budget

https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/#expenb

Ministry wise Summary of Budget Provisions

https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/doc/eb/sumsbe.pdf

All Statements of Budget Estimates

https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/doc/eb/allsbe.pdf

Finance Minister’s Speech

https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/#collapse1

Tax updates (Budget 2022)-01 Feb 2022

Tax updates (Budget 2022)-01 Feb 2022

AMT is proposed to be reduced from 18% to 15% for co-operative society

Surcharge rate reduced from 12% to 7% on co-operative society having total income less than Rs. 10 crores

Income from the transfer of virtual digital asset shall be taxed at 30% with no deductions of expenses

New provision introduced for filing of an updated return within 2 years from the end of the relevant assessment year on payment of additional tax

Period of incorporation for eligible start-ups to claim the tax benefit is extended by 1 year

Maximum surcharge on long-term capital gain is capped at 15%

Surcharge or cess is not allowable as business expenditure:

Gift of cryptocurrencies to be taxed at receiver’s end

The government will tax income from digital asset transfers at 30%.

Gross GST collection for January 2022 is Rs 1.4 lakh crores approx, highest since the inception of GST: Says FM

Rs 1 lakh crore financial assistance to be provided to states in 2022-23 to catalyse investments, says FM

Existing tax benefits for startups, which were offered redemption of taxes for 3 consecutive years, to be extended by 1 more year.

Faceless proceedings under Customs is fully established

Customs Duty on Gems and Diamonds reduced to 5%

SEZ reforms in customs to be implemented by 30th Sept, 2022

Concessions provided on raw material for boosting manufacturing of Electronics Goods

Duty concessions provided to high growth electronic items

Proposals made for exempting few goods under Customs for promoting manufacturing of Capital goods

Economic times –

Biggest announcements for taxpayers 👉
Taxpayers can file an updated return on payment of taxes within two years from the end of relevant assessment year.

The new provision will ensure voluntary tax filing and reduce litigation, says FM

30% tax on proceeds of virtual/digital assets with no deductions other than cost of acquisition

No set off permitted against other income

1% TDS to be levied on payments made on transfer of digital assets

Deduction for employer contribution to NPS increased to 14% from 10% earlier for State govt employees on par with central govt employees

(Economic times)