Monday, March 30, 2020

Introduction to Indian Customs Duty Essay Example

Introduction to Indian Customs Duty Essay Custom Duty  is imposed under the  Indian Customs Act formulated in 1962  by the Constitution of India under the Article 265, which states that â€Å"no tax shall be levied or collected except by authority of law. So, theIndian Custom  Act was  introduced  that allow the Central Government to collect the taxes under the name of Custom Duty. Custom Duties are usually levied with ad valorem rates and their base is  determined  by the domestic value the  imported goods  calculated at the official  exchange rate. Similarly, export duties are imposed on export values expressed in domestic  currency.Export duties are levied occasionally to clear up excess profitability in  international price  of goods in respect of which domestic  prices  may be low at given time. But the  concept  of import duty is wide and almost universal, except for a few goods like food grains, fertilizer, life saving drugs and equipment etc. The Indian Customs Duties are major so urce of revenue for the Union Government and constitute around 30% of its   tax revenues. Together with  Central Excise duties, the contribution amount to nearly three-fourth of total tax revenue of the Union Government.Custom duty not only raises money for the Central Government but also helps the government to prevent the illegal  imports  and illegal  exports  of goods from India. The Central government has emergency powers toincrease  import or export duties whenever necessary after a  notification  in the session of Parliament. History of Indian Customs The Custom Duty in its present form dates back to 1786, when Bruisers formed the first Revenue Board in Calcutta. In 1808, a new  Trade Board  was introduced for  export and import of goods from India.Once again, in 1859 Customs Duties Act was introduced in which provincial import duties were replaced by uniform Tariff Act and was  applicable  to all Indian territories within the country. In the subse quent year several changes in the Custom Policy took places and are as follow: * Sea Customs Act was passed by Government in 1878. * Indian Tariff Act was passed in 1894. * Air Customs having been covered under the India Aircrafts Act of 1911, * Land Customs Act was passed in 1924. After Independence, the Sea Customs Act and other allied enactments were epealed by a consolidating and amending legislation entitled the  Customs Act, 1962  (CA). Similarly the Act of 1934 was repealed by theCustoms Tariff Act, 1975(CTA). Governing Body As per Section12 of the India Customs Act,  Custom Duty  is imposed on Goods, belonging to Government as well as goods not belonging to Government. Section 2(22), gives inclusive definition of ‘goods as Goods includes: Goods As per  Section12  of the India Customs Act, Custom Duty is imposed on Goods, belonging to Government as well as goods not belonging to Government.Section 2(22), gives inclusive definition of ‘goods as Goods includes: * Vessels, aircrafts and vehicles * Stores * Baggage * Currency and negotiable instruments and * Any other kind of movable property. Objectives of Custom Duties The customs duty is levied, primarily, for the following purpose: * Restricting Imports for conserving foreign exchange. * Protecting Indian Industry from undue competition. * Prohibiting imports and exports of goods for achieving the policy objectives of the Government. Regulating export. * Co-coordinating legal provisions with other laws dealing with foreign exchange such as  Foreign Trade Act,Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, Conservation of  Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Act,etc. Mode of Levy of Customs Duty Basically there are three modes of imposing Customs Duty: 1. Specific Duties:   Specific custom duty is a duty imposed on each and every  unit  of a commodity imported or exported. For example, Rs. 5 on each meter of cloth imported or Rs. 500 on each T.V. set imported. In this case, the value of commodity is not taken into consideration. 2. Advalorem Duties:  Advalorem custom duty is a duty imposed on the total value of a commodity imported or exported. For example, 5% of F. O. B. value of cloth imported or 10% of C. LF. value of T. V. sets imported. In case of Advalorem custom duty, the physical  units  of commodity are not taken into consideration. 3. Compound Duties:   Compound custom duty is the combination of specific and advalorem custom duties.In this case, the quantities as well as the value of the commodity are taken into consideration while computing tariff. For example, 5% of F. O. B. value plus, 50 paisa per meter of cloth imported. Decline in Customs Duty India’s  customs tariff rates  have been declining since 1991. The â€Å"peak† rate has come down from 150% in 1991-2 to 40% in 1997-98. The downward momentum was reversed the next year with the imposition of a surcharge. This momentum has resumed with the reduction of th e â€Å"peak† rate to 35% in 2001-2 and 30% in 2002-3

Saturday, March 7, 2020

Free Essays on Moral Isolationism

on innocent strangers in order to ensure that one swing of their sword that could decapitate a man. If a samurai went off to battle and could not decapitate his enemy’s head he would be a disgrace to his community. Midgley gives a few examples of how to go about judging this practice, which is seemingly condoned by ancient Chinese cultures. First, she claims that the â€Å"judge† must have knowledge of the event. When referring to an Indian who denounced western civilization after a two week visit to Brazil she states, â€Å"my own impression is that we believe that outsiders can, in principle, deliver perfectly good indictments-only, it usually takes more than two weeks to make them damming. Understanding has degrees†(Midgley, 78). This brings ... Free Essays on Moral Isolationism Free Essays on Moral Isolationism In Mary Midgley’s Trying Out One’s New Sword, she explains that moral isolationism â€Å"Consists in simply denying that we can never understand any culture except our own well enough to make judgements about it†(Midgley, 78). She goes on to state that, â€Å"those who recommend this hold that the world is sharply divided into separate societies, sealed units, each with its own system of thought†(Midgley, 78). Midgley also explains that the people who take up this idea of moral isolationism think that it is being respectful to other cultures and societies. Midgey does not agree with this idea. â€Å"Nobody can respect what is entirely unintelligible to them. To respect someone, we have to know enough about him to make a favorable judgement, however general and tentative. And we do not understand people in other cultures to this extent. Otherwise a great mass of our most valuable thinking would be paralyzed† (Midgley, 78). Midgley provides numerous examples to show the importance of analyzing other culture’s morals in order to form educated judgments about them. She gives an example of ancient Chinese samurai warriors whom before going off to battle would test the sharpness of their swords on innocent strangers in order to ensure that one swing of their sword that could decapitate a man. If a samurai went off to battle and could not decapitate his enemy’s head he would be a disgrace to his community. Midgley gives a few examples of how to go about judging this practice, which is seemingly condoned by ancient Chinese cultures. First, she claims that the â€Å"judge† must have knowledge of the event. When referring to an Indian who denounced western civilization after a two week visit to Brazil she states, â€Å"my own impression is that we believe that outsiders can, in principle, deliver perfectly good indictments-only, it usually takes more than two weeks to make them damming. U nderstanding has degrees†(Midgley, 78). This brings ...