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Practice area · Customs

Classify and value with the tariff in hand.

A wrong tariff heading or a missed FTA condition can turn a shipment into a demand and a detention. Get the classification, the valuation and the exemption, cited to source.

Customs law in India, governed by the Customs Act, 1962 and the Customs Tariff Act, covers duties on import and export, classification, valuation and exemptions. AskSolique answers customs questions with the exact tariff heading, section and notification cited.

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Customs classification is where small readings have large consequences - one heading decides the duty on every future consignment of the same goods.

Why Customs is hard

Classification by rules, valuation by rules, changed by notification.

Customs turns on the General Rules for Interpretation of the tariff - a strict, sequential heading-and-note analysis where the difference between two headings can be a duty percentage. Valuation runs on the transaction value read with the Customs Valuation Rules and a series of additions. On top sits a constant stream of exemption notifications, FTA rate schedules and CAROTAR origin conditions, plus CESTAT and Advance Ruling decisions that settle contested classifications. The bare tariff rarely gives the final answer - the current position is in a notification or a ruling.

What's broken in the way you work today

You feel this on every import and every export incentive.

  1. Classification is a rules-based maze

    The right heading follows the interpretive rules and section notes in sequence. A plausible-sounding heading that skips a note is simply wrong - and expensive.

  2. General AI guesses the tariff line

    Ask a chatbot for an HSN or a duty rate and it returns a confident heading and percentage that may ignore the governing note or a superseding notification.

  3. FTA benefits hinge on fine print

    A concessional rate depends on satisfying rules of origin and holding a valid certificate under CAROTAR. Miss a condition and the benefit is denied at assessment.

  4. One error repeats per shipment

    A classification or valuation position applies to every future consignment of the same goods, so a single wrong call compounds across the whole import stream.

What happens if nothing changes

A wrong classification follows every consignment.

In customs, a wrong heading or under-valuation is recovered as differential duty with interest and penalty, the goods can be detained or confiscated, and - because the same treatment repeats on every consignment - the exposure multiplies across the entire import history until an audit or SIIB investigation surfaces it. A denied FTA benefit or a mis-read exemption turns an expected margin into a demand. Doing nothing means running the import stream on classifications taken once and never re-tested against the current tariff and notifications.

What has to change

The heading, the valuation rule and the notification - together.

Stop classifying from memory and stop trusting an uncited rate. The customs position should arrive with the tariff heading, the interpretive rule and section note behind it, the governing exemption or FTA notification, and the controlling CESTAT or Advance Ruling - from a corpus maintained as notifications issue - and it should connect to the GST angle of the same import, because indirect taxes move together.

Genuine use cases

The questions that land on a customs desk - answered, cited.

Real fact patterns from trade and import work. Each returns the position with the exact heading, rule or notification attached.

Assessable value on an import

An importer needs the correct duty base for goods bought from a foreign supplier including freight and insurance.

The question

How is the assessable value for customs duty determined?

AskSolique answers

Assessable value is the transaction value under Sec 14 of the Customs Act, read with the Customs Valuation Rules, 2007, and includes costs such as freight and insurance up to the place of importation, with prescribed additions where applicable.

  • ↳ Sec 14, Customs Act
  • ↳ Customs Valuation Rules 2007

Claiming a concessional FTA rate

An importer wants the lower duty available under a free-trade agreement for goods sourced from a partner country.

The question

Can FTA concessional rates be claimed at import, and what is required?

AskSolique answers

Yes - a concessional FTA rate can be claimed subject to satisfying the applicable rules of origin and furnishing a valid certificate of origin, with the importer meeting the due-diligence and documentation requirements under the CAROTAR Rules, 2020.

  • ↳ CAROTAR Rules 2020
  • ↳ FTA rate notification

Duty drawback on exported goods

An exporter has used duty-paid inputs in goods now being exported and wants to recover the duty.

The question

What is duty drawback and how is it claimed?

AskSolique answers

Duty drawback refunds customs and central excise duties on inputs used in exported goods under Sec 74 or Sec 75 of the Customs Act, claimed at the prescribed rates under the Drawback Rules on satisfying the export and documentation conditions.

  • ↳ Sec 75, Customs Act
  • ↳ Drawback Rules

What your team gets out of it

Not a discount on hours - leverage on the highest-stakes work you do.

  • Classify defensibly

    Headings come back grounded in the interpretive rules and section notes, not a plausible guess that skips a note.

  • Value to the rule

    Every valuation surfaces the Sec 14 basis and the addition it requires, so the duty base holds up on assessment.

  • Secure the incentive

    FTA and drawback claims come with the origin and documentation conditions attached, so the benefit is not lost on a technicality.

  • Defensible on audit

    Every position traces to the tariff, notification and ruling - the answer you can put in a reply to a customs query.

Frequently asked Customs questions

What is the basis of customs valuation?
The transaction value under Sec 14, adjusted per the Customs Valuation (Determination of Value of Imported Goods) Rules, 2007, is the primary basis.
Can FTA concessional rates be claimed at import?
Yes, subject to satisfying the rules of origin and furnishing a valid certificate of origin, per the CAROTAR Rules, 2020.
What is duty drawback?
Duty drawback refunds customs and central excise duties on inputs used in exported goods, under Sec 74 or Sec 75 of the Customs Act and the Drawback Rules.
How is classification of goods decided?
Classification follows the General Rules for the Interpretation of the Customs Tariff, applying heading and note-based analysis in sequence.

A cited answer, in context

Put a customs question of your own to it.

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Example question

How is the assessable value for customs duty determined?

AskSolique answers

Assessable value is the transaction value under Sec 14 of the Customs Act, read with the Customs Valuation Rules, and includes costs like freight and insurance up to the place of importation.

  • ↳ Sec 14, Customs Act
  • ↳ Customs Valuation Rules 2007
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