Customs duty structure review to focus on reducing number of rates: Revenue Secretary

The government is looking at bringing down the number of customs duty levies to five from about a dozen presently, as part of the duty rationalisation exercise, Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra said on Wednesday. The reduction in the number of customs rates will help reduce classification disputes, he said when asked about the Budget proposal for a comprehensive review of the rate structure in six months.

On Tuesday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech said the government will undertake a comprehensive review of the customs rate structure over the next six months to rationalise and simplify it for ease of trade, removal of duty inversion and reduction of disputes.