Provisions of interest on belated refund U/s. 27A of Customs Act also applies on belated refund of SAD

CA Bimal Jain

Facts:

Riso India (P.) Ltd. (the Respondent) was belatedly allowed refund claim of Special Additional Duty of Customs (SAD) filed on March 2, 2010. However the claim of interest on the SAD was rejected on the ground that the Respondent had not specifically claimed interest and Section 27A of the Customs Act is not applicable for the interest on refund of SAD.

Held:

The Hon’ble High Court of Delhi relied upon the following judgments:

• KSJ Metal Impex (P.) Ltd. Under Secretary (Cus.), M.F. (D.R) [(2013) 40 taxmann.com 199 (Mad.)]
• Sony India (P.) Ltd. Commissioner of Customs [(2014) 44 taxmann.com 475/45 GST 322 (Delhi)]

and held that ‘Duty’ as defined in Section 2(15) of the Customs Act, is wide enough to cover all kinds of duty, including SAD. Hence, as per Section 3(8) of Customs Tariff Act, provisions of Customs Act insofar as they relate to ‘refund’ and ‘interest on delayed refund’ viz. Sections 27 and 27A ibid would apply to refund of SAD. Where the Respondent got refund of SAD in terms of Section 27 of the Customs Act and it was granted belatedly, he will also be eligible to get interest on SAD refund in terms of Section 27A of the Customs Act.

(Author can be reached at Email: bimaljain@hotmail.com)

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