Customs allows post-clearance revisions - of course, conditions apply

New CBIC rules let importers and exporters voluntarily revise shipping bills and pay or claim duty differences after clearance

In a welcome move, the government has enabled importers and exporters to, after Customs clearance of goods, revise the particulars in the shipping bill (S/B) or bill of export (BoE) or bill of entry (B/E) and pay differential duty with interest or claim refunds. This will help importers and exporters to rectify any mistakes, such as wrong classification, made during self-assessment. 

Section 18A was inserted in the Customs Act, 1962 (CA62) through Section 93 of the Finance Act, 2025 with effect from March 29, 2025, empowering the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) to prescribe the conditions and the manner in which voluntary revision of entries in B/E, S/B or BoE may be made, after clearance of goods. Accordingly, on October 30, the CBIC notified Customs (Voluntary Revision of Entries Post Clearance) 

Regulations, 2025. 

Now, any importer or exporter or his Customs broker can file at the port where the duty was originally paid, electronic applications for revision of one or more entries already made during clearance of goods along with a fee of ₹1,000/- and a declaration in the prescribed format.  

 An application may request revision of multiple entries in a single B/E or S/B or BoE. However, for revisions to entries in several such documents, separate applications must be filed for each. After receiving the acknowledgement receipt number (ARN), the importer/exporter must self-assess and pay any differential duty with interest, quoting the ARN. If the risk management system picks up any application, the assistant/deputy commissioner (AC/DC) at the port will reassess the relevant B/E, S/B or BoE. If the self-assessment or reassessment results in a claim for refund of duty, the application itself will be treated as a refund claim with date of generation of ARN treated as the date of filing the refund claim. 

Revision of entries is not allowed where the Customs audits, search, seizures, summons or investigations have already been initiated and intimated to the importer or exporter. 

The cases requiring refund where the proper officer has already re-assessed the duty or finally assessed the duty after provisional assessment or assessed duty on imports through post or courier are excluded.  

Also, no revision of entry will be allowed for the cases where any benefit under instrument-based scheme or any exemption notification or any regulation made under the Customs laws is already availed and the same is to be reversed, but a different procedure for reversal of benefits is already provided in such notification or under such regulation, thus denying the facility for most exporters. 

The facility for importers and exporters to voluntarily revise the entries in the B/E, S/B and BoE after Customs clearance is a distinct improvement over the procedure of seeking amendment in such documents under Section 149 of CA62, where any amendment after clearance of the goods is possible only on the basis of documentary evidence which existed at the time the goods were cleared, deposited in a warehouse or exported.   

The new regulations are silent on the time limit for filing the application for revision of the entries. The scope of the new dispensation is also restricted due to several exclusions.  

Hopefully, the government will extend the scope of the scheme. For now, the government deserves appreciation for easing the procedures to rectify any genuine mistakes. 

 

Email: tncrajagopalan@gmail.com