Officer’s failure to understand matter properly causes Customs revenue loss

LAHORE: Misunderstanding on the part of appropriate officer leads to loss of revenue to the customs department, said sources.

According to sources, after failing to complete final determination within due period, the said lady officer declared the provisional assessment as final one and passed an order to encash the security instrument, which was contested by the importer and secured the security at the end of the day.

According to details, one importer imported a unit of vehicle from UK and filed Goods Declaration for clearance. The assessing officer, as per practice in vogue, approached to the market player for fair assessable value, which provided two different values. The concerned officer preferred to search the value the online portal and assessed value provisionally while the differential amount of duties/taxes was secured through bank guarantee.

However, the assessing officer could not complete the final determination within a period of six months as provided by the law and directed the encashment of bank guarantee.

The appellate forum maintained that the appropriate officer is not in consonance with the purpose, mandate and language of the relevant provisions and got misled by the explanation. It said that the explanation that the provisional assessment means the amount of duties and taxes paid or secured against bank guarantee was misconstrued, as it does not include the additional amount determined on the basis of provisional assessment and the said differential amount is indeed a speculated amount of duty which could ultimately be the actual amount after a complete probe and inquiry for the final determination subject to the stipulated period.

Therefore, the differential amount secured through bank guarantee is not part of the provisional determination and when the appropriate officer failed to pass an order of final determination as per inquiry envisaged under the enabling provision, then the amount only determined as provisional assessment would be deemed as final determination and the differential amount, if already paid, be refunded and returned to the importer if secured through an instrument, i.e., pay order/bank guarantee.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024