Refund of SAD

The intention of levying Special Additional Duty (‘SAD’) of Customs also known as Counter Value Duty (‘CVD’) U/s 3(5) of the Custom Tariff Act is to encourage domestic market and counter balance local sales tax/ Value Added Tax (‘VAT’) leviable on like products at the time of sale , which would have been levied if procured from domestic market.

However, where the imported goods are subsequently resold, exemption from 4% additional duty is provided in the form of refund vide Custom Notification No. 102/2007 dated 14.09.07, provided the conditions prescribed in the said notification is fulfilled.

The following conditions are required to be fulfilled:

1) all the applicable duties including additional duty has been paid at the time of import by importer;

2) at the time of issuing invoice, importer shall specifically indicate in invoice that no credit of additional duty shall be admissible;

3) the importer shall file refund claim of the said additional duty of customs paid on the imported goods with the jurisdictional customs officer;

4) the importer shall pay appropriate sales tax or VAT on sale of the said goods;

5) the importer shall, inter alia, provide copies of the following documents along with the refund claim:

    (i) document evidencing payment of the said additional duty;

    (ii) invoices of sale of the imported goods in respect of which refund of the said additional   duty is claimed;

    (iii) documents evidencing payment of appropriate sales tax or value added tax, as the case may be, by the importer, on sale of such imported goods.

Procedure and clarification for claiming refund has been given in Circular No. 06/2008 Cus dated 28.04.2008 and Circular No. 16/2008 dated 13.10.2008 read with Notification No. 102/2007 Cus dated 14.09.2007.

Check list for filing refund application

Points to be cautious:

1. Time limit for filing refund claim is one year from the date of payment of the additional duty of Customs. In view of the above, importer should be specific in filing refund claim within the stipulated time else the refund amount would lapse.

2. Amount of SAD refund shall be restricted proportionate to sales made (quantity wise) and appropriate sales tax or VAT has been paid. Hence unsold stock would not be eligible for refund.

3. The importer can file monthly claim irrespective of number of bill of entries. Single claim against a particular bill of entry is allowed and whereas refund claim for part quantity is not allowed except where necessary at the end of one year.

4. One of the condition, inter-alia, requires that invoice should contain a declaration that no credit of the additional duty of customs levied under sub-section (5) of section 3 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 shall be admissible. In the absence of which, department rejecting the claim cannot be ruled out.

5. Certificate from a statutory auditor / CA who certifies the final accounts, correlating VAT payment vis-a-vis 4% SAD amount and unjust enrichment. A certificate from any independent Chartered Accountant would not be acceptable.

Disclaimer:

The author is a member of institute and can also be reached at cabaqar@gmail.com. The above expressed views are author’s own view.