New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to overhaul India’s customs duties, after she hinted at the same earlier. This could include simplification of duty rate slabs and conversion of inverted duty structures, especially as customs duties remain the last tax framework that remains to be updated after GST 2.0 and Income Tax.
“The Finance Minister had made a statement that she wants to re-look at the customs law. Customs has remained largely the way it is, while income tax, service tax, excise and now GST have all been revamped.” Saloni Roy, partner at Deloitte India, said in an interview with ANI.
For exporters and importers, customs litigation has remained a major concern, as outdated rules lead to disputes over taxation rates arising from classification, valuation, and exemption-based issues.
There have also been repeated complaints about the complex regulations and red tape holding up shipments, mainly due to overlapping compliance requirements from multiple authorities- Customs, DGFT, RBI, FSSAI and others.
Also, many complain about the high import duties and the unreasonable additional charges associated with them. Many netizens have been debating the rationale behind imposing these charges.
“The Indian govt justify these customs duties on the pretext to protect local industries. Comparing, the range of products China makes with what the local Indian industries make, there is a big ocean gap. It will take them perhaps 30 years to reach 50% of the China range and by that time obsolete.
Why all this pretense. ?.. Accept the reality. Know your limitations and stop making nonsensical objectives and overblown ambitions. Stop holding the creative indian back..and stop allowing the parasites in white uniform to suck blood of indian hard working entrepreneurs,” a Redditor named Debunk2025 said in a long-ranging discussion.
After the GST 2.0 tax breaks and the earlier simplification of the income tax slabs, the simplification of custom duties is being keenly awaited. If Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announces reforms in line with expectations, this could help India’s business rankings. India was at 63rd position in the Ease of Doing Business report out of 140 countries, and an improvement in similar rankings requires much more than reforms. The business community is waiting with bated breath for the Budget Announcement on February 1.
