1999 (9) TMI 88 - SUPREME COURT

Whether while assessing customs duty payable in respect of imported gods, the customs authorities can add/include landing charges in arriving at the value of those goods?

Held that:- What has to be seen is the value or cost of the imported articles at the time of importation i.e. at the time when they reach the customs barrier. Landing charges which have to be paid to the Port Trust must therefore, be taken into consideration while determining the value of the imported goods for the purpose of assessment of duty. It is only if the importer establishes that the obligation to pay the landing charges is on the seller and not on the importer and that the seller or his agent has, in fact, paid the said landing charges to the Port Trust Authorities, that the importer can claim that the landing charges should not be again added to the price. In none of the cases before us has it been found by any fact finding authority, even in cases of CIF contracts, that the Port Trust Authorities did receive the landing charges from the shipper or the foreign seller and that the said charges were included in the CIF contract.

No merit in the contentions of the appellants and, in our opinion, landing charges were rightly taken into consideration in determining the assessable value of the imported goods for the purposes of Section 14(1)(a) of the Act.