Following an unscheduled field customs audit, the state revenue department issued an assessment notice for 7.4 million tenge, including anti-dumping duty, import customs duty, VAT and penalties. The grounds were: customs value adjustment by including transport costs for CIP delivery terms, reclassification of cooling panels for poultry houses changing the duty rate from 5% to 10%, and application of the fallback method for determining spare parts customs value due to missing separate transport cost documents.
The Ministry of Finance partially granted the company's complaint. The ministry recognized as unlawful the inclusion of transport costs in customs value under CIP delivery terms, since such costs are already included by the seller in the goods price. The spare parts value adjustment using the fallback method was also cancelled, as transport cost documents were reflected in contracts and invoices. Simultaneously, the legitimacy of cooling panels reclassification was confirmed, considering their filtration properties.
The decision was based on detailed analysis of Incoterms delivery conditions and customs legislation norms on customs value formation. The appeals commission found that customs authorities took a formal approach to document evaluation, not considering the specifics of international trade terms and actual inclusion of costs in the contract price. This case demonstrates the importance of proper documentation flow in imports and can serve as guidance for companies facing similar customs value disputes.
