Got a detention cum show cause notice from Customs

M

moshel

Adept
Friends,
I ordered E3 Flasher from Amazon. Now after a few days I got a letter at my house from the Foreign Post Office, Ahmedabad saying that my package is detained (Detention cum show cause notice) and I have to submit some documents (like Commercial invoice, payment details, IEC code, literature, End use certificate on company letterhead, etc; basically what you need to submit incase you have a commercial establishment/purpose).

It also has a form attached that says "I hereby declare that the aforesaid package was sent by my relative/friend and contains the following". Then there is a table where we can mention details, then it says "By providing this declaration I agree to accept the show cause notice in my name and to pay any duty, fine or penalty levied by the authority". Basically it said that if I agree to this they will issue me a show cause notice.

My friend spoke to the post office people and they are not clearly informing anything. On one side they are saying they don't know what it is so can't confirm if any duty or penalty will be applicable. On other hand they say that if I submit the documents and the declaration and if they levy any penalty then I HAVE to pay it. Else I can forfeit the package right now and it will be returned to the sender. Further, they are claiming that the custom duty will be 41% !!!!

Please suggest how I should go about this. Paying custom duty is ok but penalty would be too much. A $114 E3 Flasher will in the end cost Rs. 20,000/-.

Any insight on how best to get out of this mess and what I should ideally do in this regard will be highly appreciated. Also, would this affect any more products that I order from outside India in the future?

Thanks,
Moshel
 
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This is normal.

Send the invoice and whatever details you have like paypal receipt etc to the address from where the letter came.. The duty will be calculated accordingly, if u do not send the documents they will levy random duty, u will either have to pay it or forget the item.
 
moshel said:
Thanks, but what about the penalty? Under what circumstances is a penalty charged?
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Did the letter say anything about a penalty?

The post office people are dumb. The valuing of an item is done by a customs officer. Send the required documents asap, or they will either auction off the item.. Or apply random duty.
 
I was charged 41% customs duty today on headphones I ordered from Amazon. The max duty I can see on websites is 28.85%. Has the duty been recently increased? I ended up paying about Rs. 4800 for a headphone priced $40.32 on Amazon.com. Is there anyone I can take this up with?
 
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b_naresh said:
I was charged 41% customs duty today on headphones I ordered from Amazon. The max duty I can see on websites is 28.85%. Has the duty been recently increased? I ended by paying about Rs. 4800 for a headphone priced $40.32 on Amazon.com. Is there anyone I can take this up with?
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I thought they dont charge customs till 100$...
 
Today I went there, they told me that if you purchase anything above Rs. 2000/- for personal use then you have to pay 41% custom duty + Rs. 6000/- penalty!!!

I tried to persuade them that Custom duty is fine but not penalty. But they say it all depends on the Asst. Commissioner of Customs, they can write a favorable report not to charge penalty. If he decides penalty has to be charged, then I have to pay it.
 
moshel said:
Today I went there, they told me that if you purchase anything above Rs. 2000/- for personal use then you have to pay 41% custom duty + Rs. 6000/- penalty!!!

I tried to persuade them that Custom duty is fine but not penalty. But they say it all depends on the Asst. Commissioner of Customs, they can write a favorable report not to charge penalty. If he decides penalty has to be charged, then I have to pay it.
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think someone cheated u bro....you dont have to pay penalty for ordering above 2000 rs...
 
is this process of penalty, requiring to go to customs/post office with documentation etc a new thing? will be a pain to import anything if it is..
 
I think you are being taken for a ride by the officer or whosoever is in charge.

Refer this link - http://www.cbec.gov.in/excise/cxt2012-13/cxt_1213-idx.htm (from http://www.cbec.gov.in/cae1-english.htm)

Within this link, under SECTION-XX MISCELLANEOUS MANUFACTURED ARTICLES, Chapter 95: Toys, games and sports requisites; parts and accessories thereof.

Download the .pdf from the link to the left (Chapter 93-95) or here - http://www.cbec.gov.in/excise/cxt2012-13/chap93-95.pdf

Scroll down to Chapter 95, Page 618.

Under Tariff Item 9504 50 00, Video game consoles and machines... it clearly indicates the rate of duty as 12%.

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Take a print out of this and approach the guy. Ask him/her to show the clause which specifies the duty and the fines levied against this import. If not you have every right to lodge a grievance against this guy. Get his details like name and designation. And head to this link - http://pgportal.gov.in/Grievance.aspx?org_code=D4-B828-00D60F4A08D9

EDIT: Use the calculator here - http://www.eximguru.com/calculator/calculatecustomduty.aspx?1=10&2=&3=12&4=4&5=&6=&hscode=95045000

If the CIF value is entered as 7280 Rs (112 USD * 65), the payable duties are around 2068 Rs as per the site's calculation.
 
What 41% + 6,000 for something that is bought over 2,000 rupees? That must be a joke.

Let alone the penalty, you shouldn't be paying such a high customs duty in the first place. They are just bargain bribing.
 
Yup, the postman who delivered my headphones yesterday charged Rs.1365(Rs.1335 customs + Rs.30 delivery charge). The calculation on the receipt said 41% of $40.32 = Rs.1335.
 
Raghav_K said:
think someone cheated u bro....you dont have to pay penalty for ordering above 2000 rs...
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I dont think any cheating here... there is some stupid rule in india, that if we import an item which more than 2000Rs through POSTAL, will attract 40% duty + penalty.. this is irrespective of the item category...

If i remember correctly, one of TE member from chennai had this problem when he tried importing an mobile phone. Finally he returned back to the seller and reshipped through SnS or something like that.[DOUBLEPOST=1378878645][/DOUBLEPOST]http://www.techenclave.com/communit...rged-by-indian-customs-for-tablet-pcs.133347/
http://www.techenclave.com/community/threads/import-problem-with-mumbai-customs-please-help.133285/
 
^ shipping through postal? Means if i buy from us, and it Ships by USPS and gets transferred to india post after reaching airport?

What other alternative we have? Choose fedex shipping if we have that option?
 
those high charges are pretty easy to explain.

Since you don't have a license to import, you can only get an item whose value + shipping charges don't exceed Rs 2000. Now, if your item exceeds that limit, you'd be charged 41% duty on the item value + shipping. As you dared to exceed that limit without any import license, you are liable to pay a penalty. :D
 
I don't follow the logic of this explanation, he has bought just one item.

Where is the question of requiring an import license ?

And why is there a penalty to begin with. What rules have been broken here.

The rs.2000 limit applies to what can be labelled as gifts, in the sense you can't label something as a gift if it exceeds Rs.2k.

There is a classification of duties that has to be taken into account depending on the item.

it would seem that the PO is discouraging people from importing anything why ? they don't require an export license to send items abroad via worldnetexpress, do they.
 
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