If you had ever imported electronic good into India you might be fully aware of the custom duty limit – it was Rs. 2000 ($30) well here is some good news, as per notification issued by Minster of Commerce the custom duty will be assessed for CIF value from Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 50,000.
Less Custom Duty for electronics items imported into India priced up to Rs. 50,000
What this means is that earlier if you had imported a $50 handset you would have to pay custom duty that comes to about 41% depending on the assessment by the custom officials. But now (as per this source) you will be able to import electronic items (mobiles, tablet etc) up to Rs. 50,000 – with less custom duty.
If this is true then this is definitely good news as consumers will be able to buy good devices from International online stores, and they will end up paying less custom duties compared to before, as long as the product value is under Rs. 50,000.
What does this mean?
Before : For product (CIF value – CIF is cost, insurance and freight) of under $30 or Rs. 2000 the custom officials would assess the custom duty and in most cases it will not be added, which means you would get it for without paying any custom duty. But for product CIF value of over $30 attracted a fixed duty rate 41.49%.
Now : The same above rule applies for CIF value under Rs. 50,000 or $775. This means that before if you bought a handset for $100 the Duty would come to 42% approx flat and now with the new rule it will come to approx up to 28%, depending of assessment by custom official.
So in most cases there is no custom duty for under Rs. 2000 but for products from Rs. 2000 up to Rs. 50,000 there is not a fixed duty in fact all depends on the CIF value that the custom official assesses. So next time you buy goods from international store the duty will be less than what you used to pay before.
Do Note Custom Assessed value is Invoice + Freight + Insurance (if any) + Other Landing Charges like C&F Fee etc.
Tip: Venki