Alteration in Price of Goods: Budget 2020 announces New Custom Duty Rates

To reduce non-essential imports and raise the revenue of domestic manufacturers, the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the announced the new custom duty rates, which are to be made applicable to the country goods by the Budget 2020. Speaking about doubling farmers’ income by 2022, the Finance Minister stated for the need of hike in basic custom duty rates especially for certain consumer goods including ghee, butter, oil, cheese, walnuts, sunflower seeds, etc.

Additionally, a health cess is proposed by the Finance Minister on imports of medical equipment to ensure growth of health services. The motive was to bring more stakes in the domestic healthcare ecosystem.

Here’s a compact list of all goods recommended in the Budget 2020 for Custom duty hikes thereby increasing the prices of imported goods.

Following are the products on which Basic Custom Duty rates have been INCREASED:

Products Rate of duty (in %)
           From To
Wall fan 7.5 20
Household appliances & goods 10 20
Electrical appliance 10 20
Footwear 25 35
Furniture 20 25
Stationery item 10 20
Toys 20 60
Electric Vehicle 25 40
Mobile 10 20
Earphone & headphone Nil 15
Power adaptors Nil 20
Food processing 30 100
Chemical & plastics 7.5 10
Auto & auto parts 30 40
Cigarettes 45 60
Tobacco products 10 25
High Voltage Power handling machine 5 7.5
Railway carriage fans 7.5 10
The compressor of refrigerator and AC 10 12.5
Commercial freezer 7.5 15
Welding & Plasma cutting machinery 7.5 10
Rotary fillers 2.5 7.5
Miscellaneous item 10 20

Following are the products on which Basic Custom Duty rates have been DECREASED: 

Products Rate of duty (in %)
           From To
Open-cell for a TV set 7.5 20
Solar cell- unassembled 10 20
Solar cell-assembled 10 20
Fuel, chemical and plastic 10 Nil
Precious metal 12.5 7.5
Machinery & electronic goods 10 Nil
Sport goods Applicable rate Nil
Newsprint 10 5

Exemptions are withdrawn from the following goods: 

  • Agro & animal-based products including skimmed milk, certain alcoholic beverages, raw sugar, soya protein, soya fiber, etc.
  • Item of metal including lead bars, pipes, and tubes, Tin plates and strips.
  • Machinery used in metro forming, electricity production and construction of roads.
  • Electronic items used in a printer, CD writer, MP3, MP4, MPEG4 player, Pre-recorded cassettes, audio cassettes, color TV panel, etc.
  • Miscellaneous such as peanut butter, preserved potatoes, instant print films, exposed cinematographer films.

Other propositions in Budget 2020

  • The imposition of 5 % health cess on import of health equipment.
  • Removal of Anti Dumping Duty on import of Purified Telepathic Acid.
  • Increased National Calamity Contingent Duty on Cigarettes and Tobacco Products.

The Budget 2020 was overall expected to raise consumer spending and curb the economic slowdown, but with an increase in custom duty rates, most household and daily use items getting expensive, it can be said that consumer spending as it was in FY 2019 might also be low in FY 2020 too. Expedite your Import and Export Registration with Taxreturnwala.com
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