The General Administration of Customs (GAC) has issued Announcement 15/2012 to promulgate the Classification Table of Imported Articles of the People's Republic of China and the revised Dutiable Value Table of Imported Articles of the People's Republic of China. Both entered into force on April 15 2012.
According to the announcement, the following principles must be applied in sequential order to classify imported articles:
- Where an article is listed in the classification table, it must be classified into the relevant category accordingly;
- Where an article is not yet listed in the classification table, it must be classified in the corresponding category based on its main function (ie, usage); and
- Where an article cannot be classified into a corresponding category according to the above principles, it must be classified in the 'other article' category.
The dutiable value of imported articles must be determined by Customs in accordance with the following principles:
- Where the dutiable value of an article is listed in the dutiable value table, the dutiable value shall be determined accordingly.
- Where the dutiable value of an article is not listed in the dutiable value table, the dutiable value must be determined in accordance with the current retail market price of identical articles from the same source.
- Where the actual purchase price of an article is more than twice the dutiable value listed in the table or is less than half the duty-paid price listed in the table, the owner of the imported article must present Customs with the purchasing invoice or receipts legally issued by the vendor. Customs may, in light of the invoice or receipts provided, determine the dutiable value of the article in accordance with the law.
The dutiable value of special goods required by national minority groups in border areas must be determined pursuant to dutiable value tables announced separately by the GAC. Taxpayers that disagree with a classification or determination of dutiable value in respect of an imported article may file for administrative review in accordance with the law.
For further information on this topic please contact Eugene Lim at Baker & McKenzie's Hong Kong office by telephone (+852 2846 2413), fax (+852 2845 0476) or email ([email protected]).