Any importer paying customs duty of Rs 1 lakh or more, will have to use electronic payment method compulsorily from September 17. Such a mechanism aims to reduce the transaction cost.
An instruction issued by the Central Board of Excise and Custom (CBEC) says that e-payment will be mandatory for importers registered under Accredited Clients Programme also.
E-payment facility at Customs locations was introduced in 2007 and is available through more than one authorised bank at all major Customs locations having ICES facility. So far, using this had been on a voluntary basis.
E-payment is advantageous to tax payers as well as the Government. To the taxpayers, it affords the facility of making payments from their own offices on a 24X7 basis. It also facilitates quicker release of cargo.
To the Government, it ensures immediate collection of taxes and error free data relating to tax payments. This exercise also speeds up the process Customs duty payment and clearance of imported goods.
Reacting to the mandatory e-payment, FIEO President M. Rafeeque Ahmed said that the ranking of India in ‘Doing Business Report 2012’ in Trading across Borders segment is quite low and that shows that other countries are taking far more revolutionary steps to make the exim transactions seamless.
“We need to introduce Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) among all 13 partners by a firm date so that fiscal interface between importers-exporters and statutory agencies are eliminated giving much relief on the transaction cost front,” Ahmed added.