Article and Research by Our Indian Correspondent.

Duty levies when you come in after a stay of less than 3 months :

-  Every adult passenger is allowed to import Rs.12,000/- (USD266) worth of goods free of duty into India if you have been staying abroad for more than 3 days and an allowance of Rs.6,000 (USD133) if the stay has been for less than 3 days.

- You pay a customs duty @61.2% on goods exceeding the duty-free limit (given above).

- You cannot club your allowance with that of another passenger.

- You cannot use your duty-free allowance on unaccompanied baggage shipped via sea or air freight.

- Minors are allowed duty-free allowance of Rs. 3,000/- (USD67) if the stay abroad has been more than 3 days and Rs. 1,500/- (USD33) if the stay outside has been less than 3 days.

Duty levies when you come in after a stay of more than 3 months:

- Your limit remains the same (duty free up to Rs. 6,000/- or USD133) and you are allowed to bring in used used household articles / linen / utensils / tableware / iron and so on up to that limit alone.

On duty levies when you come in after a stay of more than 6 months:

- Remains the same as above, the only additional exception being the permission to bring in professional equipment you may have used abroad, free of duty, up to a limit of Rs. 20,000/- (USD444).

Duty levies when you come in after a stay of more than 12 months:

-  If you have lived abroad for at least 365 days in the preceding 2 years and are coming to India on the termination of employment, you can bring in goods worth Rs. 30,000/- (USD666) free of duty only if these are goods owned and used by you and your family for a minimum of                6 months. But those items appearing in Annexure I & II will attract duty. Such an allowance is given to you only once in 3 years.

Duty levies when you come in after a stay of more than 2 years:

-  If you have stayed abroad for more than 2 years and are returning to India on a transfer of residence, all your used personal effects/household goods can be imported free of duty. But those items appearing in Annexure I & II will attract duty. Such an allowance is given to you only once in 3 years.

Common to all :

- You are allowed to bring in personal effects such as clothes, toiletries, shoes, bedding, baggage and so on which are used or in use, free of duty, whether as accompanied baggage or as air/ship freight.  You have to pay duty only on other articles/equipment/household goods, where applicable, depending on the duration of your stay.

Foreign national coming to India :

- Even if you are a foreign national coming to India on employment (you will have to possess a visitor/entry/business/resident visa), get the same duty concessions available to an NRI who is returning to India - your household goods will not be charged any duty but you will have to pay duty on items appearing in Annexure I and II.

What items are considered household goods :

New articles are charged duty @ 61.2 % The following 14 major appliances (single unit of each) are charged duty @ 32% of the value subject to a value limit of Rs. 150,000/- (approx. US $ 3333) regardless of usage. [V/S: FOR DETAILS ON CUSTOMS DUTIES LEVIED A LINK COULD BE PROVIDED HERE TO THE EARLIER ARTICLE WHICH DEALS WITH IT MORE EXTENSIVELY]

The items termed major appliances are :

01) Television
02) VCR / VCP / VTR
03) Washing Machine
04) Dishwasher
05) Music System
06) Personal Computer
07) Microwave oven
08) Air conditioner
09) Refrigerator
10) Deep Freezer
11) Video Camera
12) Cooking Range
13) Word Processor
14) Fax machine.

Since these items have been specifically used you cannot avoid paying duty on them even if they have been in use.  But you can claim an allowance for depreciation by making the requisite declaration with the customs authorities. 

Items which appear in the Annexure I and II :

ANNEXURE I :

01. Fire Arms.
02. Cartridges of fire arms exceeding 50
03. Cigarettes exceeding 200 or cigars exceeding 50 or tobacco exceeding 250 gms.
04. Alcoholic liquor (and wines) in excess of 1 lt.
05. Gold or Silver, in any forms other than ornaments.

ANNEXURE II :

01. Color Television / Monochrome Television.
02. Video Cassette Recorder / Video Cassette Player / Video Television Receiver.
03. Washing machine.
04. Electrical / liquefied Petroleum Gas Cooking Range (other than electrical / Liquefied Petroleum Gas stoves with not more than two burners and without any extra attachment)
05. Dish washer
06. Music System
07. Personal Computer
08. Air Conditioner.
09. Refrigerator
10. Deep Freezer
11. Microwave Oven
12. Video Camera or the combination or any Such video camera with one or more of the following goods, namely: -

a) Television receiver
b) Sound recording or reproducing apparatus
c) Video reproducing apparatus

13. Word Processing machine
14. Fax machine
15. Vessels
16. Aircraft
17. Cinematographic films of 35 mm and above
18. Gold or Silver, in any form, other than ornaments.

Claiming Transfer of Residence benefits :

- If you have lived abroad for more than 2 years, during which time you have not visited India for more than 6 months you are eligible for Transfer of Residence concessions.  You also have to ship the things out within a month of your landing in India or one month prior to your landing in India.

- Even a housewife can claim these benefits if she fulfills the other eligibility criteria.

- These benefits are allowed to be claimed by a family as a whole and not by individuals of a family in separate measure (only one member claims it on behalf of all) . 

- Earlier it was compulsory for the person who claimed the TR benefits to remain in India for at least 1 year after landing here but since the promulgation of the Baggage Rules,1998 there is no longer any such compulsion.

Need for a Landing Certificate :

- Landing certificates are no longer issued or required for clearing household goods/personal effects as unaccompanied baggage.  It is needed only if your accompanied baggage cannot be located on your arrival due to mishandling by the airline en route.

On the documents you need for customs clearance of your shipment, you will need:

1. The importers original passport/s

2. Original bill of lading (duly endorsed on reverse)

3. Original delivery order (duly endorsed on reverse)

4. Detailed packing list showing make, model number, quantity, year of purchase and value of each item

5. Purchase receipts for the major items

Import of professional equipment :

- If you have been working (engaged in your profession) abroad for more than 3 months you are allowed duty-free import of professional equipment up to a value of Rs. 10,000/- (USD222).  The limit goes up to Rs. 20,000/- (USD444) if you have been working abroad for over 6 months.

- Professional equipment can only mean portable equipment / instruments / apparatus / appliances which has been used in his/her profession by a carpenter, plumber, welder, mason and so on and cannot include commonly used items such as cameras (unless you are a professional photographer with specialized equipment), cassette recorders, dicta-phones, personal computers, typewriters and so on.

Import of Gold :

-  An NRI/PIO can bring in gold in any form up to 10 kilos of gold in any form,  if he is coming in after a stay of 6 months.  He is required to to pay duty @ Rs. 400/- per 10 grams in convertible foreign exchange.

Import of Silver :

- An NRI/PIO can import silver in any form up to 100 kilos if he is coming to India after 6 months abroad.  He has to pay a duty of Rs. 500/- per kilo.

Import of Jewellery :

- You can bring in jewellery free of duty if you have lived abroad for over 1 year and if the jewellery is in use.  Other than this you are allowed to import duty free only up to a limit to the value of Rs. 10,000/- (USD222) for men and Rs. 20,000/= (USD444) for women. Over and above this you would have to pay duty.

Whether you have to be present during clearance :

-  Generally speaking, you have to be present to answer questions about ownership and/or usage of anything in your shipment, sign forms and be present for the examination of your goods in the presence of the customs officer.

- In exceptions cases your presence may be waived provided someone who has been given your power of attorney is present and the customs forms are notarised / attested by a Gazetted officer of the Customs/Excise or related departments.

What happens after you land :

- After your goods reach any Indian port, your goods are off-loaded from the container ("de-stuffing") and moved to a customs warehouse for clearance, this being the case with LCL (Less than Container Load - where you book only a part of a container and do not need the whole of it) shipments.  In the case of an FCL (this is a Full Container Load - where the entire container has been booked by you for your things alone) shipment the containers are moved et al to be placed directly outside the customs warehouse for de-stuffing or delivery directly taken from the container or else the loaded container is moved to the eventual destination (a facility available only from some cities/ports), which could be your new home.

- Although each and every package is supposed to be opened and examined by the custom's officials, in practice only 10%-20% of the packages are checked randomly (if a proper packing list with package wise demarcation is provided and the things are found to be as per the declaration and the list they may not check anything at all).

- Legally, you have to proceed with customs clearance within 30 days of the landing of your goods or else they are liable for confiscation.  Confiscation is, however, very rarely done in the shipment of personal effects and household articles.  If your goods have been destuffed from the container and you delay the customs clearance, you pay only port demurrage (which is nominal in the ports of Delhi and Bombay but substantial in Madras and Calcutta).  But if your things are still in the container when your 30 day deadline lapses you could be paying very heavy damages indeed.   Ask your mover for a safe warehouse if you are unable to proceed through customs, for whatever exigency, within the stipulated time.

- Under normal circumstances goods are cleared by the customs at the port at which they arrive, the port of entry or POE.  By bonding your goods, you can send your shipment to an inland destination for customs clearance. You are allowed to enter into a duly sealed customs bond (by filing bank guarantees - which is returned to you by your mover by getting the same cancelled with the customs after you provide them with a Landing Remark Certificate (LRC) from your second (dry) port/personal bond/insurance for the fresh transit etc.) with the customs authorities.  The bank guarantee becomes necessary because the government is protecting its revenue - the duty which has not been paid at the POE.  The personal bond is taken to ensure the (higher) differential, if any, in the values/calculations declared at the POE with those at the inland destination.  Insurance covers total loss/theft/accidents en route and again protects the interests of the customs/govt.

- You can arrange with your shipping company for an LCL to shift your things to the Inland Customs Depot (or ICD which is a dry port or dry inland station authorised to do customs clearance).  With a single-use FCL, you can go directly to an ICD, without the afore-mentioned cumbersome bonding.  In such a case they will allow your container to leave the port without customs clearance but you will have to have the clearance done at your inland destination before you are handed over possession of your goods - far more tedious than getting it done at the port itself, which therefore becomes the accepted/preferred procedure.

-  LCL containers take up to 10-15 days to get placed and de-stuffed, another 5-6 days for moving to a warehouse and clearing customs - the last is the same as for a FCL shipment but this needs only 2-5 days to get placed at the customs warehouse.

Safe modes of shipment :

- Theft and pilferage does happen in ports all over the world, India being no exception (though the general level of security is pretty high and pilferage a relatively uncommon occurrence).  There is also the possibility of mix-up of your cartons with other shipments.  Thus, the use of crates or lift vans (especially for high value/electronic items) is definitely recommended. 

- It is better you have a proper packing list where each loose item is separately and serially numbered.  Take some co-related things together and label as one package of x items.  Your list should name each and every one of the individual items and the package into which they have gone.

- Your container is a bonded good which is allowed entry without payment of customs duties.  It will not be able to leave most ports without de-stuffing.  If you wish to have your things delivered to you at your door-step in the container itself you will have to do some additional paperwork which could include the filing of bank guarantees with the shipping line/paying container insurance and so on.

Moving with your agents :

- It is generally accepted to arrange for a door-to-door obligation with your mover though you do have the option to choose another mover for the inland trans-shipment after you reach your port destination.

- Accessibility, reputation, number of years in service, client lists, financial soundness, affiliations with international moving companies, government licensing - all these could be determining factors in choosing your mover.   Ask around for recommendations - you will be surprised to find how handy/convincing word-by-mouth advice can be. 

MOVING BELONGINGS OUT OF INDIA : (top)

Basic Documentation :

- You will need to sign the Shippers Export Declaration (SED) and leave behind a copy of your passport and ticket, alongside other information such as your eventual / en route contact address for your relocation company.                     

- Generally, goods can be sent within one year after you leave or any time within one year prior to your departure, upon the production of a departure certificate which is normally issued after you leave the country.  To get the DC in advance, you will have to sign a bank guarantee alongside an agreement with the customs that you will leave the country within 4 months (or more if you are allowed to make such an exception) of your goods leaving the country.

- Any duty you pay at the time of import is refundable when you have to trans-ship it out again.  Identification by the customs is crucial and made easy by maintaining lists with make, serial number, year of purchase etc.  It is because identification becomes difficult in the case of household goods that refunds become problematic in their case, though the law provides for the same.

On other general rules about which you should remain informed:

- Amongst the items which cannot be exported are Indian currency and parts or products of wild animals on the protected species lists.  Even antiques, silverware and other heritage crafts cannot be exported without evaluation by a Government notified / approved valuer. 

- Once your goods are packed they are taken to the movers' warehouse if shipped as LCL or stored pending customs clearance (for which examination they are then taken).  Once inspection/clearance is done they are put into a container and loaded on a ship.  Your presence is not required at the time of customs clearance since it is basically a formality which takes a few hours.

- No duty is levied on export of household goods/personal effects.

CONCLUSION :

It is safest to go via a highly recommended mover like 21st Century Relocations (see article on "Planning your move with a mover") for their years of experience make the job that much easier for you.  Most good movers use specialised packing equipment like strapping machines, bubble packs, thick cardboard, soft tissue, corrugated rolls and impact resistant plastic cartons / wrapping which take your possessions without even minor damage / breakage over the very long haul. Once you have paid customs duties on the things you bring in you are allowed to do whatever you wish with them - gift them, sell them or simply leave them behind on your next move, if you so wish.  Put in some comprehensive insurance coverage for your things to guard against natural/accidental eventualities and you have the fail-proof recipe for a perfectly balanced event - your relocation.  And in all likelihood it will turn out to be a happily bland experience!



© The Law Office of Sheela Murthy, P.C.