look news india
Ahmedabad: The central government may propose several changes in customs rules to remove customs-related anomalies in the upcoming general budget. The aim will also be to continue some concessions and increase compliance. Sources familiar with the situation said that some important measures have been discussed in customs to promote manufacturing in the country, ensure hassle-free compliance and prevent tax evasion.
Official sources indicated that the Centre is planning to introduce electronic bank guarantee or e-bank guarantee for importers to prevent revenue evasion. There are also plans to continue duty exemptions on some items and change customs duty rates on some items like medical equipment and consumer electronics to boost the domestic economy.
Actions relating to the chargeback process and reducing the time taken to report exchange rates of charges are also discussed.
If there is a difference in the amount of customs duty, the officials ask for a bank guarantee for the same amount that must be deposited. The consignment is provisionally cleared only after the guarantee is received. Currently, paper bank guarantees are widely used, making it challenging for officials to monitor them. This leads to huge revenue losses for the government.
If a trader is charged a lower rate and later finds out that he has actually been charged a higher rate, he will have to pay the amount to the government. It is not easy for importers to get a bank guarantee either. He said that banks charge a processing fee for issuing a bank guarantee depending on the tenure, risk rating of the importer and the amount etc.