Customs Duty Valuation: Design Charges and Royalties Excluded from Transaction Value Under Section 14

CESTAT adjudicated a customs duty valuation dispute concerning design and drawing charges and royalty payments. The tribunal determined that design and drawing charges for customer-specific textile machines and royalty payments unrelated to imported goods should not be included in the transaction value. The key legal finding was that neither Section 14 of the Customs Act nor Valuation Rules mandate inclusion of design costs or royalties that do not directly constitute a condition of sale. The tribunal emphasized that the design charges were for customized products and the royalty payments were not contingent on specific import transactions. Consequently, these charges could not be incorporated into the assessable value for customs duty calculation. The appeal was allowed, excluding design and drawing charges and royalty from the transaction value. .....

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