Personal On Assignment To Diplomatic Missions

Import of household goods and motor vehicle are permitted free of duty on presentation of customs duty exemption certificate issued by the concerned diplomatic mission and countersigned by the Govt.of India.The diplomatic personnel should contact their mission for issuance of customs duty exemption.

Transfer Of Residence Benefits

Foreign or Indian Nationals, including Non Resident Indian transferring residence to India are allowed to import their household effects subject to the following conditions:

1.  The owner has resided abroad for minimum of two years immediately preceding the date of his arrival on TR and is transferring residence to India for at least one year.

2.  Total stay in India on short visits during the 2 preceding years does not exceed 6 months (or 180 days)

3.  The owner has not availed this concession in the preceding 3 years.

[Foreign nationals are treated at par with Indian nationals except that certain customs station insist on production of minimum one year residence visa as a precondition to granting transfer of residence benefits].

Please note that only one member per family is entitled to transfer of residence benefits.

OLS & USED personal and household effects required for satisfying daily necessities of life including furniture, bedding, kitchenware, glassware, etc (excluding electrical & electronic items) are exempted from duty.The articles should be in the possession & use of owner or his family prior to his arrival in India.(NEW personal & household items shall be dutiable at normal duty rate – 61.2%)

Only one unit of each of the following items [new or old] is permitted under concessional duty rate of 35.2% of value-subject to aggregate value of these items [Annexure II] not exceeding INA 1,50,000/-.


Airconditioner, Refrigerator, Deep Freezer, Microwave, Washing machine Dishwasher, Cooking Range, Personal Computer, Fax Machine, Television, VDR/VCP/VTR, Video Camera, Music System, Word Processing Machine

Any repeated items of list [Annexure II] is dutiable @ normal rate-61.2%.

Time Limit:

Unaccompanied baggage must be dispatched by air within 15days and by sea within 30 days of owner's arrival in India.[The delay maybe condoned on merits – maximum extendable upto 60 days and 90 days by sea].

Shortfall upto 2 months in completing 2 years stay abroad may be condoned by Asstt.Commissioner of Customs for early return on sufficient/satisfactory grounds.Beyond a period of 2 months, no condonation would be granted.

If the total stay in India on short visits during the preceding 2 years exceeds the time limit of 6 months, then condonation may be granted by the Commissioner of Customs in deserving cases.

The unaccompanied baggage may land in India upto 2 months before the arrival of the passenger or within such periods, not exceeding one year, as the Asstt.Commissioner of Customs may allow, if he is satisfied that the passenger from arriving in India within the period of 2 months due to circumstances beyond his control, such as sudden illness of the passenger or his family member, or natural calamities or disturbed conditions or disruption of transport or travel arrangements in the concerned country or any other reasons, which necessitated a change in the travel schedule of the passenger.

Import Of Motor Vehicles

Indian nationals or foreign national’s Indian origin coming to India for permanent settlement under transfer of residence are allowed to import either Motor car or Motor Cycle subject to the following conditions:

Import of one passenger car with engine size not exceeding four cylinders & not exceeding 1600 c.c.is permitted, whether the car is new or old.However, if engine size exceeds four cylinders or 1600 c.c.the car should have been in owner's possession abroad for a minimum period of one year & minimum one year old overseas registration in owner name is necessary.The importer has stayed abroad continuously for a period of atleast 2 years prior to his coming to India for permanent settlements.The payment for the vehicle is made abroad before his return to India & such payment does not involve, directly or indirectly, any remittance of foreign exchange form India.Remittance for cost of vehicle, insurance & freight are not permitted from India.The car should be imported into India within six months of the owner's arrival in India for permanent settlements.The payment of customs duty is made in their convertible foreign exchange.Customs duty can be paid in rupees derived by sake of foreign exchange or by debit to their NRE/FCNR accounts held in India or out of funds held in their RFC account.In such cases, the authorities dealer will have to issue a certificate to that effects for submission to customs authorities.Only import of one unit of any vehicle is permitted.

Additional Information

1. The importer is free to sell the vehicle in the open market after his return to India.
2. There is restriction either in engine capacity or usage for import of motor cycle
3. If the importer transfers his residence out of India again, he will be entitled to import another vehicle only after a minimum period of 8 years from the date of importation of the previous vehicle.

Documents Required For Vehicle Clearance

• Owner's original passport.
• Original overseas registration certificate of the vehicle.
• Original manufacturer's / suppliers invoice.
• Current insurance policy of the vehicle.
• List of car accessories along with their make model no.etc.
• Original bill of lading.

Prohibited

Alcoholic Beverages, Firearms & Ammunitions, Commercial Goods or Goods in Commercial Quantity, Narcotics, Drugs

Customs Duty Rates W.E.F 13/06/98

1. Motor car                                 @ 111.12%
2. Motorcycle upto 75 c.c.              @ 73.42%
3. Motor cycle above 75 c.c.           @ 88.50%

Motor vehicles imported into India, whether old or new, are chargeable to duty on the basis of their list price prevailing in the country of their manufacture on the date on which a Bill of Entry is presented.However, trade discount & depreciation on the value are deducted from the price list but freight from the country of manufacture & insurance changes are added. The landing charges are also added to this to arrive at the final assessable value. Depreciation for used or second-hand cars is allowed at the prescribed scale.Extent of depreciation is calculated from the date of registration of the vehicle thereof to the foreign country, whichever is earlier.Value for standard accessories fitted in cars will form part of the assessable value of the cars.Extra accessories/ equipment's, Airconditioner, radio cassette player etc are chargeable to further duty.

Disclaimer

The customs information has been prepared to the best of our knowledge and experience.Customs rules and duties are subject to change without prior notice.We shall not be responsible for sore reliance on this work nor for any error or omission.