Skip to main content

IGST to be levied only when goods are brought for customs clearance


The integrated goods and services tax (IGST) would not be levied on sale of goods on high seas but would be charged when they are brought for customs clearance, authorities have clarified, much to the relief of oil and gas, power and telecom companies. 
The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has issued a circular to this effect after receiving references on the issue as all inter-state transactions are subject to IGST. 
'High sea sale' is a common trade practice where in original importer sells goods to a third person before they are customs cleared. Final customs clearance is filed by the final owner. CBEC has said IGST would be required to be levied only once at the time of importation of goods, which is when goods are cleared by customs. 
It also clarified that value addition accruing in each high sea sale transaction shall form part of the value on which IGST would be levied at the time of clearance. 
This means that IGST would be payable on the value for the last buyer in the chain. The importer would be required to furnish the entire chain of documents such as original invoice, high-seas-sale contract, details of service charges, commission paid, etc. to establish a link between the first contracted price of the goods and the last transaction. 
Tax experts said the circular has ended the confusion on the issue, but the government should clarify whether such sales trigger reversal of input credit. 
"There was lot of confusion in the industry on the taxability of high seas sale, i.e., whether it is taxable twice or only once in the hands of the ultimate importer," said Abhishek Jain, tax partner at EY India. "The circular provides logical and right clarity that high seas sale should be taxed only once in the hands of ultimate importer."
The Economic Times, New Delhi, 03rd August 2017

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Household debt up, but India still lags emerging-market economies: RBI

  Although household debt in India is rising, driven by increased borrowing from the financial sector, it remains lower than in other emerging-market economies (EMEs), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its Financial Stability Report. It added that non-housing retail loans, largely taken for consumption, accounted for 55 per cent of total household debt.As of December 2024, India’s household debt-to-gross domestic product ratio stood at 41.9 per cent. “...Non-housing retail loans, which are mostly used for consumption purposes, formed 54.9 per cent of total household debt as of March 2025 and 25.7 per cent of disposable income as of March 2024. Moreover, the share of these loans has been growing consistently over the years, and their growth has outpaced that of both housing loans and agriculture and business loans,” the RBI said in its report.Housing loans, by contrast, made up 29 per cent of household debt, and their growth has remained steady. However, disaggregated data sho...

External spillovers likely to hit India's financial system: RBI report

  While India’s growth remains insulated from global headwinds mainly due to buoyant domestic demand, the domestic financial system could, however, be impacted by external spillovers, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its half yearly Financial Stability Report published on Monday.Furthermore, the rising global trade disputes and intensifying geopolitical hostilities could negatively impact the domestic growth outlook and reduce the demand for bank credit, which has decelerated sharply. “Moreover, it could also lead to increased risk aversion among investors and further corrections in domestic equity markets, which despite the recent correction, remain at the high end of their historical range,” the report said.It noted that there is some build-up of stress, primarily in financial markets, on account of global spillovers, which is reflected in the marginal rise in the financial system stress indicator, an indicator of the stress level in the financial system, compared to its p...

Retail inflation cools to a six-year low of 2.82% in May on moderating food prices

  New Delhi: Retail inflation in India cooled to its lowest level in over six years in May, helped by a sharp moderation in food prices, according to provisional government data released Thursday.Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation eased to 2.82% year-on-year, down from 3.16% in April and 4.8% in May last year, data from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) showed. This marks the fourth consecutive month of sub-4% inflation, the longest such streak in at least five years.The data comes just days after the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee cut the repo rate by 50 basis points to 5.5%, its third straight cut and a cumulative reduction of 100 basis points since the easing cycle began in February. The move signals a possible pivot from inflation control to supporting growth.Food inflation came in at just 0.99% in May, down from 1.78% in April and a sharp decline from 8.69% a year ago.A Mint poll of 15 economists had projected CPI ...