Section 24A: Non-payment or underpayment of duty, excise duty and taxes
consolidated text (as at 2016, amended since). juris shows the text as it was consolidated; it does not confirm that this is the law in force today.
24A. Non-payment or underpayment of duty, excise duty and taxes
(1) Subject to this section and to section 15, 19, 20 or 24 of this Act,
section 5 of the Customs Tariff Act or section 5, 22 or 52 of the Excise Act,
where the Director-General has reason to believe that duty, excise duty or
taxes has not been paid or has been underpaid, he may, by notice in writing,
require the importer or the person referred to in section 162 (1) (b), as the
case may be—
(a) to make an entry, if any, in respect of the goods being the subject matter of the non-payment or underpayment; and
(b) to pay the amount of duty, excise duty and taxes specified in
the notice, together with a penalty not exceeding 50 per cent of
the amount of duty, excise duty and taxes and interest at the
rate of 0.5 per cent per month or part of the month from the
date of the original validation of the bill of entry to the date of
payment,
not later than 28 days of the date of the notice.
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(2) The Director-General shall not issue a notice under subsection (1)
where the non-payment or underpayment of duty, excise duty and taxes relates to a validated bill of entry passed before a period of 3 years or such
longer period as may be applicable under section 7A.
(3) (a) Where an importer is dissatisfied with a notice under subsection (1), the importer may, within 28 days of the date of the notice, object to
the notice in a form approved by the Director-General and send the form duly
filled in to the Director-General by registered post.
(b) Where an importer makes an objection under paragraph (a), he
shall specify, in the form, the detailed grounds of the objection.
(c) Where it is proved to the satisfaction of the Director-General
that, due to illness or other reasonable cause, an importer has been prevented from making an objection within the time limit specified in paragraph (a), the Director-General may consider the objection.
(ca) Where the Director-General refuses to consider an objection
made after the time limit specified in paragraph (a), he shall, within 28 days
of the date of receipt of the letter of objection, give notice of the refusal to
the person.
(d) Any objection under this subsection shall be dealt with independently by an objection directorate.
(e) The burden of proving that the notice of the Director-General is
incorrect, or what the amount of duty, excise duty and taxes should be, shall
lie on the importer.
(4) (a) The objection directorate shall consider an objection under subsection (3) and review the notice, and may—
(i) disallow or allow it in whole or in part; and
(ii) where appropriate, amend the notice to conform with its
determination.
(b) The Director-General shall, within 4 months of the date of receipt
of the objection under subsection (3), give notice of the determination to the
importer and shall, at the same time, claim any duty, excise duty or taxes.
(c) Where the objection is not determined within 4 months under
paragraph (b), it shall be considered to have been allowed by the DirectorGeneral.
(5) Where an importer is aggrieved by a decision under subsection (3) (ca)
or a determination under subsection (4), he may, within 28 days of the date
of the determination, lodge written representations with the Clerk to the Assessment Review Committee in accordance with section 19 of the Mauritius
Revenue Authority Act.
[S. 24A inserted by s. 5 (k) of Act 26 of 2012 w.e.f. 1 January 2013; s. 4 (g) of Act 26 of
2013 w.
raph (b), it shall be considered to have been allowed by the DirectorGeneral.
(5) Where an importer is aggrieved by a decision under subsection (3) (ca)
or a determination under subsection (4), he may, within 28 days of the date
of the determination, lodge written representations with the Clerk to the Assessment Review Committee in accordance with section 19 of the Mauritius
Revenue Authority Act.
[S. 24A inserted by s. 5 (k) of Act 26 of 2012 w.e.f. 1 January 2013; s. 4 (g) of Act 26 of
2013 w.e.f. 21 December 2013; s. 12 (k) of Act 9 of 2015 w.e.f. 14 May 2015.]
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Customs Act
PART IV – CONTROL, EXAMINATION, ENTRIES AND SECURITIES