Bangalore: The Bangalore Customs Zone, which includes Mangalore and Kochi, is well on the way to reaching its revenue target of Rs. 4,540 crore for 2006-07.

Heera Radhakrishnan, Chief Commissioner of Customs, Bangalore, told presspersons on Wednesday that the Bangalore zone had collected Rs. 1,230.57 crore up to September 15 this fiscal year. There was a steady increase in performance with revenue touching Rs. 1,976.46 crore in 2005-06, compared to Rs. 1,710.77 crore during 2004-05 and Rs. 1,625.81crore in 2003-04.

"Reduced duties on several imports and simplified procedures have improved tax compliance and we are taking it forward," she said.

Between April and August 2004-05, customs revenue was Rs. 704.08 crore, and in the corresponding period this year it increased to Rs. 1,109.71 crore, showing a healthy 57.61 per cent growth. After Chennai, Bangalore was the second largest revenue earning zone in the southern region, she said.

New rules

The Taxation Laws Amendment Act, which came into effect in July, had simplified procedures for most importers and exporters, Ms. Radhakrishnan said. The changed Section 17 of the Customs Act says that in case of a dispute related to the duty payable, if the assessee agrees, a `speaking order' can be issued within 15 days of the Bill of Entry, and based on this an appeal can be filed. This is expected to be a taxpayer friendly measure.

The revised Section 28 now has a sub-clause that allows the assessee to voluntarily offer to pay a token penalty of 25 per cent of the duty leviable, within 30 days of receiving a notice, in cases like a `misstatement' of the value of goods. Once this amount is paid, all procedures are closed. The taxpayer thus saves time and possibly money; the penalty can otherwise be equal to the actual duty to be paid.

The new Section 110 A of the Customs Act gives legal sanctity to the seizure of goods by Customs officials but provides for them to be released after taking a bond for security.

Duty evasion

"There are some cases of duty evasion still coming up and this includes the information technology sector too. But we are trying to encourage voluntary compliance and have joint monthly meetings between officials and assesses, and the Director of the Software Technology Parks of India is an invitee," Ms. Radhakrishnan said.

Risk management

There has been good response to the Risk Management System introduced last month at the Air Cargo Complex at the airport and the Inland Container Depot in Whitefield. Up to September 19, out of 17,968 bills of entry at the Air Cargo Complex, 11,186 were facilitated. At the Container Depot, 694 bills out of 1,777 were cleared. The percentage in each case works out to 62.26 per cent and 39.05 per cent and this is expected to go up in the coming months.

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