Import of wine,whiskey,Rum,Brandy,Gin,vodka,Tequila

Big no for importing of wine,whiskey,Rum,Brandy,Gin,vodka,Tequila,liquors through post and courier,whether it is for gift,for personal use or commercial purpose.Lot of non tariff barriers.Even EU has taken issue to the WTO that India charges very high import duty. States are also charging state Excise duty. Specially they targetted Tamil Nadu for excise duty.The beverages and spirits are good source of revenue for our nation.

Customs Duty are charged @182% except wine.Fruits based drinks and soya milks are charged @36.136%. wine are charged @100 %.

Receiving gifts of paintings,sculptures and statutary,antiques,used stamps

There is no restriction on importing paintings,sculptures and statutary,used stamps either as gifts or for commercial purpose.

You can import these items without any value limit by paying 14.712% as customs duty for commercial purpose and personal use.Of course bona fide gifts upto Rs 10,000/- is without any duty.

However,antiques are restircted as per Foreign Trade(Exemption from Application of Rules in certain cases) order 1993 and customs Notification 157/90 dated 28.03.90.

But antiquarian books are free to be imported and without any duty.Normally books of an age more than 100 years are considerd antique.

Gold Coin receiving as Gifts

Import of Gold being currency is regulated by the RBI.No import of gold coin is permissible through Post and courier.They are restricted under FEMA act.Pl do not plan to receive any gold coin as gift,whether they are having carvings of Godess Laxmi and Ganesha.It is certain Banks authorised by the RBI to import gold coin,an addition to government agencies like MMTC.
As far customs duty is concerned it varies between Rs 100/- and Rs 250/- per 10 grams.The excise duty and cess is 8.24% .

But passengers under Baggage Rule and transfer of residence can bring gold coins.Next time,ask your friend not to send gold coin as gifts through Post and courier but bring personally at the of returning to India.

Collectors coins including numismatic value are not allowed to import in India.

Customs duty on Toys and Games

There is no restriction on importing the Toys and Games. A list of goods and with respective duty if some body imports for commercial purpose.

Description of imported goods Rate of Duty

Tricycles ,scooters,Dolls` carriages,dolls 14.712%

Video games,Playing cards 34.130%

Snow-skis,water-skis and other water sport 14.712%
equipment.

Golf clubs,balls and other golf equipment 14.712%

Lawn Tennis rackets 14.712%

Squash or racket ball badminton rackets 14.712%

Lawn-tennis balls 14.712%

football 14.712%

Volley ball 14.712%

Basket ball 14.712%

Hockey ball 14.712%

cricket ball 14.712%

Golf ball 14.712%

Rugby ball 14.712%

Ice skates and roller skates 14.712%

Boxing equipment 14.7 2%

Hockey sticks 14.712%


The above sports goods if imported for personal use than the total duty is 17.34%. A doubt is raised that when the some sports goods imported for commercial purpose are attracting lesser duty than the duty meant for goods for personal purpose.Then ,what should be duty to be paid for such personal imported sports goods?.Further these goods are for re-sale purpose than the effective duty after clearance will reduce by 4%.The goods imported for personal use are attracting more duty then the goods meant for personal purpose.This is discriminatory.

How to receive corporate gifts-through courier or Post

If you are to receive consumer electronics goods valuing more than Rs 2000/ as gifts-.Then it is advisable that you import through Courier,without any duty,upto Rs 10,000/-.

There is no duty on the Mobile /cellular phone and its components of any value. For example,You can import even mobile phone of Rs 40,000/- or more without any duty. Actually,
what you pay at the time of clearance ,4% duty,the same can be refunded after clearance.You have to produce sales invoice and file refund claim.Then, at the end of the day you donot pay duty.Personal import not being subject to sales,no refund of 4% possible on the mobile.

But corporate gifts of money clips,silk scarves,wallets ,ties and cuff links,computer bags,Candle holder and crystal miniatures upto Rs 10,000/- is without any duty,whether it is through postal or courier.However,If these imported goods worth more than rs 10,000/- then duty will differ on the same goods,depending upon whether you have imported through post or courier.For example,if the silk scarves are imported through post then total duty is @17.34% but if imported through courier then duty will be @24.421%. Therefore,The deciding factor is expected delivery period and transportation cost of the gifts.

Now you can use Post-Office to tranfer you money electronically

There is computerisation is goining on of Post-office all over India.Our Post-office will provide like other banks to transfer fund from one place to other through electronic medium.

In future The Post will become your payment channel as well as 3PL service provider for your supply chain needs of import and export. With linking of post-offices will make parcel visibility more and tracking easy.

It is time to Import and not export goods from India

There is high rupee and low dollar.This make Import cheaper and Export costlier.

This is the time when you can import goods which you wanted to purchase from abroad but being costly you are postponing.

You have to send less foreign currency and also pay less duty on such import, if at all. Your duty free gift limit also increased in Dollar terms.Happy shopping.

Customs Duty on kitchen ,office,toilet and decoration glassware

If you import Glassware articles for personal use and value is above Rs 10,000/- then you have to pay duty @ 17.34% for goods imported as post parcel .But for commercial purpose,the duty is almost double for the post parcel.Bonafide gifts of glassware up to Rs 10,000/-are free for both postal and courier parcels.

(Source of image:http://www.k-read.net)

The glassware articles imported through couriers are charged same rate of duty,34.130%,whether you import for own consumption or for selling purpose.

Now the 4% special additional duty(SAD )on import has been exempted.But to receive this duty benefit who have to produce sales invoice showing sales tax payment and file refund claim to the customs department.

you can plan import of your kitchen,office,interior decoration or drinking glass(including wine glass) from any where in the world.The import of glassware is absolutely free.However,ceramic-glassware are treated differently in the customs classification.

Now at least 4% reduction in duty for goods imported for business and trading purpose

There is reduction in duty at least 4% if goods are imported for selling purpose in India.First you have to pay 4 % special additional duty at the of import and then you have to file refund claim to the customs department. The refund is eligible only when you have claim filed within time limit, Sale invoice proof of payment of sale tax on the imported goods and other conditions of section 27 of the Customs Act 1962( Ref-Notification No. 102/2007-Customs ).
This reduction is on goods imported for trading purpose.The goods for personal use are not exempted from such special duty.
Any claim of refund of excess duty paid for post parcels are to be filed at Foreign Post office only. The reund claim of excess duty for courier goods at Air Cargo Complex.

Explore the Cost effective supply chain of the Indian Post to export goods

The postal channel not only costing less duty and transportation cost but also provide value added service for your export need.Specifically,Logistic post and Speed post account are worth exploring. A comparison of cost associated with exporting parcel may be made among commercial parcel companies like FedEx,UPS,DHL and others viz Indian Post.

Indian Post website may be visited for more information. A relevant portion related to speed post is copied here for ready reference.

``For corporate customers and regular users, Speed Post provides many value added services including pick-up from the premises, convenient monthly billings, account management facilities, assistance in import / export procedures of shipments, corporate tracking facilities, volume discounts etc. When you open a Speed Post account, you open the door to convenience and customized solutions, as per your requirements. As an account holder of Speed Post, you will have the assistance of a Marketing Executive in managing your accounts in all respects.
For having the Speed Post account, just fill this form on-line and submit it. We shall get in touch with you soon.``

The entrepreneur may see this link http://www.indiapost.gov.in/LogisticsPost.html to explore possibility of using Postal service.It will be useful information if any body share his experience of using Logistics Post.

first time export valuation rules introduced in India and will be operative from 10th Oct 2007

Now we have export valuation rules under Customs Act 1962.You have to be careful now to declare your export price of the goods.If you over-invoiced the export cargo then also your violating law and you do the same if you declare low price .

Earlier there was rule that the domestic market value of the goods can be much lower than the selling price to the international market.But now there is sequence to follow for determining export value of the goods.Further, you have should have all documents to justify your price.

The sequences to follow to determine export value .First it is transactional value(rule 3),second by comparing price(rule4),third computed method(rule5) fourth Residual method by adopting principal of reasonableness.If the customs officer has doubt about export value,then he may reject the export price it self.[source:NOTIFICATION No. 95/2007-Customs (N.T.) ].
There is fine,penalty and adjudication process for export violation.At time department may launch prosecution against exporter as the case may be.

Export price in foreign currency is to be converted with RBI notified exchange rate

Every month The RBI issue exchange rate for export and import for a month. We have different rate for Export and import.Even though both are part of international business.But in day to day business we have fluctuating exchange rate.It changes almost every day.Therefore, it may be poosible that price paid to your buyer or importer may be different in rupee terms .In dollar or other foreign currency,it may be same.The invoice price and remittance paid to foreign person is same.The loss or gain may be in rupees terms to you.
Most of company hedge the foreign currency payment but they have to pay hedging charge to the bank.The recent rise in rupee became loss of profit margin in rupee payment for export cargo.However,the import into India is becoming cheaper on account of rupee rising.
Other option is receive price in more stable currency with respect to Rupees.

What are goods which can be imported through Postal but cannot be imported through Courier

It is interesting that you cannot import Perishable ,precious and semi precious stones,gold and silver in any form through Courier services BUT you can import through Postal Channel.

The gold,jewellary,silver are subjected to price verification from Expert jewellary assessing officer. The preshible also subjected to test for fitness for human use from various testing and inspecting agency.

Also gold is considered as foreign exchange,therefore, it has to satisfy all regulationS issued by the RBI.

whether MRP price delared on the export goods to be taken as Export value

Normally goods we purchase in domestic market are sold on MRP basis.A doubt may arise whether we have to delare export price same as MRP price.It is not so.The Export price is the price at which your foreign buyer has agreed to buy from you. Where as MRP is for buying goods in Indian market.Both are different.

As per recent ruling of Honourable Supreme Court if there is difference between Export price and domestic price of goods,then, it does not mean that the value of exported goods is mis-declared.[CC v Vishal Exports Overseas Ltd,2007(209)E.L.T.331 (SC)]

Explore possibility of using Post and Courier for the same shipment to reduce delivery time

The import and export through Post provides cost saving on transportation.Less transportation cost results in less C.I.F value to calculate duty.The end result is less duty on goods.It takes longer time to import or export through Postal channel.Therefore, if some body wants to save duty on goods but not bothered about time then he may use Post as mode of importation.

But if any body is intrested in faster delivery or receiving of goods then he may use Courier as a mode.Of course you have to pay more duty as you have paid more transportation cost on goods. Therefore there is trade off between Cost and service before choosing mode of importation.
It is possible that we can try both Postal and Courier for sending same goods.Like you can import or export through Post upto Indian ports,then some body handle your clearance at the Customs, and , forward through local courier.You can reduce time taken in the Customs clearance and travelling time taken by the parcel in India.
Some courier comany can import on your behalf,handle customs clearance and send parcel to your address. We can think many combination of doing such things.I feel happy some body share his views on this subject.

Now LCD monitor , Digital still image camera,Camcorder will attract less duty

The Goverment has reclassified LCD Monitor and camcorder in Customs heading which attract zero Customs duty presently .But excise duty is still 16%.The reduction in customs duty will also result in lesser excise duty.As the excise duty is collected on value which is equal to Assessable value and Customs duty of the goods.Earlier there was dispute whether LCD monitor and LCD TV are same or different.Similarly,camcorder and digital still image camera are same or not.

Rapid convergence of technology cause such disputes.The world Customs Organisation revise every four year the Customs tariff classification.The Customs classification code is same through out world same.

Before i conclude my writing on foreign remittance some more things to be remember

First you have to produce evidence of import to your bank that particular transaction is related to import purchase,second, you need not to use any form before your bank for amount not exceeding USD500 is used towards import payment. I think most of transaction through post are covered in the above range.
Evidence of import is must in case foreign remittance is more than USD 100,000 or its equivalent.
In case of EXPORT, no GR or PP declaration is required for amount not exceeding USD 25,000 or its equivalent. Export of goods not involving any involving any foreign remittance directly or indirectly, requires waiver of GR/PP procedure from Reserve Bank of India.The Export of goods by way of Gift is permissible up to five lakhs per year.
Hence you should be in touch with your bank and visit RBI websites and if you feel you can contact me for discussion.
Happy buying and selling on Internet

Payment through your International card for purchasing goods from foreign seller is better option

As Per RBI , there is no documents insisted by the Banks if the foreign remittance is less than US $250 or equivalent for bonafide case.Most of online purchase falls under this range only.
Further, there is no monetary limit for using International credit card(ICC).


Regarding payment in Indian rupees for import made by a person is accepted through ICC by any authorised bank. There is restriction to use ICC for prohibited transactions. A ready reference list for additinal use is produced below(source is RBI WEBSITE):


(a) Import of software through Internet.
(b) Fees for training or education of scientific/technical nature through Internet.
(c) Registration of Internet domain name, hosting charges for websites/home pages overseas and access fees for Internet related services through website .
(d) Advance payment not exceeding U.S.$ 15,000 for import of software/database through internet may also be allowed .The cardholder should furnish the details of software/database obtained through the Internet, charges to be paid to the overseas organisation for downloading the software/data and a declaration having received the software/data for which the payment was made through ICC .

There are many digital goods like Music,which can be bought through internet, but,no specific guidelines by the RBI.It seems that general rules related to foreign remittance will apply.

Sending payment to your Foreign Seller through PayPal may be legally valid

Yesterday i went to Bank and ask them,how the remittance happened through PayPal.The Manager was not aware except the fact that the cheque related to PayPal bear Citibank name.Promised to find more detail about how the payment are received in India.

If you see RBI website, The Citibank N.A is authorised dealer in India for foreign remittance.If this is the case,then the PayPal must be having account with the Citibank for settling cheques issued in Indian rupees. The banking operation related for payment made through PayPal should be carried out by the Citibank . Further you are paying through Cheque and Cards issued by your Bank,which means you are using clean money for buying and selling goods over internet.More over we are heading towards full convertability of rupees for all accounts.In such situation ,it appears that paying for your purchase through PayPal should not be illegal. We need some more inputs from valuable readers before making any judgement.

Law relating to valuation of imported parcel goods and payment through PayPal as evidence

Normally value declared by the foreign sender on the parcel is taken value for assement of duty. If this declared value of goods appears to be low than the prevailing price in the International market, then the customs department may reject this value . Various rules are there to determine the value of the imported goods which are based on WTO guidelines. As you are aware that any transaction will have various factors such as brand,quantity,discount,related or unrealted party, free gift, country of origin,place of import,etc, which may affect the price of the imported goods.

The Parliamentry Act and Government rules and interepretation of law by Honourable Court ,Tribunal,Appellate authority and practice of the day become the basis of the valuation.

To be more simple, what is actual price you paid to your foreign supplier through legally recognised channel of foreign remittance. If you produce the evidence to the Customs department that you have paid this much only to your supplier then the customs department will accept the price of the imported goods.But if you produce evidence of payment sent through PayPal,where you have paid only in Indian rupees to the PayPal,then, the departmnet may not accept this has a valid remittance.Be Careful!!

As reday reference, you may glance through relevant portion of the Indian Customs of Law ,which is reproduced below,to get feeling of Valuation subject.

The imported value of parcel goods is determined as per Section 14 of the Customs Act 1962 and CUSTOMS VALUATION (DETERMINATION OF PRICE OF IMPORTED GOODS) RULES, 1988. Various rulesThe section 4 of this rule defines :Transaction value. —
``(1)The transaction value of imported goods shall be the price actually paid or payable for the goods when sold for export to India, adjusted in accordance with the provisions of Rule 9 of these rules``.

The rule 9 is produced
``9)Cost and services. —
(1)
In determining the transaction value, there shall be added to the price actually paid or payable for the imported goods, —
(a)
the following cost and services, to the extent they are incurred by the buyer but are not included in the price actually paid or payable for the imported goods, namely:-
(i)
commissions and brokerage, except buying commissions;
(ii)
the cost of containers which are treated as being one for customs purposes with the goods in question;
(iii)
the cost of packing whether for labour or materials;
(b)
the value, apportioned as appropriate, of the following goods and services where supplied directly or indirectly by the buyer free of charge or at reduced cost for use in connection with the production and sale for export of imported goods, to the extent that such value has not been included in the price actually paid or payable, namely:-
(i)
materials, components, parts and similar items incorporated in the imported goods;
(ii)
tools, dies, moulds and similar items used in the production of the imported goods;
(iii)
materials consumed in the production of the imported goods;
(iv)
engineering, development, art work, design work, and plans and sketches undertaken elsewhere than in India and necessary for the production of the imported goods;
(c)
royalties and licence fees related to the imported goods that the buyer is required to pay, directly or indirectly, as a condition of the sale of the goods being valued, to the extent that such royalties and fees are not included in the price actually paid or payable;
(d)
the value of any part of the proceeds of any subsequent resale, disposal or use of the imported goods that accrues, directly or indirectly, to the seller;
(e)
all other payments actually made or to be made as a condition of sale of the imported goods, by the buyer to the seller, or by the buyer to a third party to satisfy an obligation of the seller to the extent that such payments are not included in the price actually paid or payable.
(2)
For the purposes of sub-section (1) and sub-section (1A) of Section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962) and these rules, the value of the imported goods shall be the value of such goods, for delivery at the time and place of importation and shall include -
(a)
the cost of transport of the imported goods to the place of importation;
(b)
loading, unloading and handling charges associated with the delivery of the imported goods at the place of importation; and
(c)
the cost of insurance :
Provided that —
(i)
where the cost of transport referred to in clause (a) is not ascertainable, such cost shall be twenty per cent of the free on board value of the goods;
(ii)
the charges referred to in clause (b) shall be one per cent of the free on board value of the goods plus the cost of transport referred to in clause (a) plus the cost of insurance referred to in clause (c);
(iii)
where the cost referred to in clause (c) is not ascertainable, such cost shall be 1.125% of free on board value of the goods;
Provided further that in the case of goods imported by air, where the cost referred to in clause (a) is ascertainable, such cost shall not exceed twenty per cent of free on board value of the goods :
Provided also that where the free on board value of the goods is not ascertainable, the costs referred to in clause (a) shall be twenty per cent of the free on board value of the goods plus cost of insurance for clause (i) above and the cost referred to in clause (c) shall be 1.125% of the free on board value of the goods plus cost of transport for clause (iii) above.
(3)
Additions to the price actually paid or payable shall be made under this rule on the basis of objective and quantifiable data.
(4)
No addition shall be made to the price actually paid or payable in determining the value of the imported goods except as provided for in this rule`.`

It will be useful for every body if we start making our data base of value declared to the Customs and accepted for valuation of the parcel goods.This will act as a refernce for future import by other person too.