11th June 2019
Allahabad High Court has, in a PIL, held that supply of imported goods to Duty Free Shops (DFS) and from DFS at international airport do not attract any customs duty or IGST.
The Court in this regard noted that the effective taxable event for levy is when the Bill of Entry is filled, whereas here goods do not cross the customs frontier.
The High Court in the case of Atin Krishna v. UoI observed that goods cleared to departing international passengers are taken along by such passengers therefore levy of Customs duty and IGST do not arise.
It was also noted that supplies by DFS to international arriving passengers is before clearance from home consumption and that the definition of ‘export’ and ‘export of goods’ under both the laws, i.e. under Customs and GST laws, is the same.