Exporters will be allowed to do self-assessment of their duty liabilities before the customs authorities, besides getting service tax refunds through a hassle-free mechanism. “To quicken the clearance of the cargo by customs authorities and further modernise the customs administration, I propose to introduce self-assessment in customs,” Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in his Budget speech today.
Under the self-assessment, importers and exporters will themselves assess their duty liabilities while filing their declarations in the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) system.
“The Department will verify such assessments on a selective system driven basis,” Mukherjee said.
Hailing the step, exporters body FIEO said that it would help in reducing transaction time.
“The move to allow self-assessment both for imports and exports will greatly reduce transaction time and cost,” Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Ramu Deora said.
