Goods Sent Abroad for Repair and Reimported Within the Stipulated Period May Be Assessed Duty Based on Repair Costs

Keelung Customs stated that according to Article 37 of the Customs Act, goods sent abroad for repair must be reimported within one year from the day following the date of export clearance. If there are factual reasons, a written request for a six-month extension may be submitted to the Customs before the expiration of the deadline. In such cases, import duties may be assessed based on the valuation of repair costs. If reimportation is delayed beyond the deadline, duties will be assessed based on the value of general imported goods. The aforementioned “date of reimportation” refers to the date of arrival at a port of entry in the country as defined in Article 6 of the Enforcement Rules of the Customs Act.

Keelung Customs explained that to facilitate the confirmation of the identity of the exported and reimported goods, the aforementioned goods sent abroad for repair should have their item name, quantity, specifications, and a declaration stating that they were sent abroad for repair detailed on both the export and import declarations. Additionally, the nature of the damage or defects requiring repair should be stated on the export declaration, and the statistical method should be reported as 7M (domestic goods exported for repair) or 9M (foreign goods returned from overseas repair).

Keelung Customs further explained that recently, some businesses have reported reimported goods for duty assessment based on repair costs. However, customs inspections have revealed that these goods were not the original goods sent abroad for repair but were instead replaced with new goods by foreign manufacturers due to their inability to repair the original goods. Therefore, Article 37 of the Customs Act does not apply in such cases, and import duties should be assessed based on the value of general imported goods. If there is any underpayment of taxes due to false declarations, the Customs Smuggling Act will be applied.

Keelung Customs finally reminded businesses that if they wish to assess import duties for goods sent abroad for repair based on repair costs, they must reimport the goods within the statutory period and confirm before customs clearance that they are the original goods sent for repair to avoid additional taxes or penalties.

Contact person: Chen Cheng-Hsuan, Wudu Branch, Tel: (02) 8648-6220 ext. 2711

 

資料來源: Ministry of Finance R.O.C.