Iran Customs Law : Part XI Review and post release measures

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Iran customs Clearance law – Part XI Review and post release measures

Chapter 1 – general

Article 133: The customs shall be obliged to review all permits, declarations and other documents relating to release of goods after signing the permits, at least once and before being subjected to lapse of time to ensure the proper implementation of regulations and that pertaining customs fees have been collected properly and completely in accordance with the regulations.

Article 134: Iran Customs Administration may re-review as many as customs declarations it deems necessary in statutory period.

Note: At the request of Iran Customs Administration, customs of fices shall be obliged to send declarations and documents in question for re-review before the expiration of the six-month statutory period.

Article 135: If after release of the goods from the customs it is known that fees which the collection of which is born by the customs have been collected more or less than what were required or basically have not been collected and/or have been collected by mistake, the customs and the owner of the goods may, within six months from the date of signing customs permit or license, claim deductions and/or refund surcharges. Refunding of surcharges shall be credited from current income.

Note 1: Deductions less than one million (1,000,000)
Rls. in each case shall not be claimable.

Note 2: If other statutory lapse of time for claiming the fees the collection of which is born by the customs is determined in accordance with lex specialis , the case shall be subject to the relevant deadlines..

Note 3: If after release of the goods and with-in six months from signing the customs permit or license, an exemption order is submitted to the customs, the relevant paid amount shall be refundable in accordance with the regulations.

Article 136:The counterpart of the customs for claiming deductions or refunding surcharges shall be a person in his/her name as the owner of the goods, a customs permit or license have been issued.

Chapter 2 – Deductions

Article 137: The customs is obliged to serve the amount of margin and/or deductions to the owner of the goods, and if he/she is not accessible, to the attorney or representative of the owner of the goods by a written letter of claim sent to the address stated in the declaration and require the owner of the goods to pay it. Serving letter of claim to the attorney or representative of the owner of the goods interrupt six-month lapse of time, even though the subject of attorney ship or representation is limited to release of the goods.

Note 1: Signing day of permit or license and serving day of deductions shall not be calculated in six-month deadline.

Note 2: Letter of claim should be related to one permit or license, and its amount of money and legal evidence should be specified.

Article 138: In case the persons from whom deductions are claimed have any objection about the amount which is claimed, they may inform the customs of the reasons of their objection in writing within thirty days from the date of serving the letter of claim. In this case the customs shall consider the letter of objection and in case in which it considers that the objection is justified, it shall refrain from its claim, otherwise it shall notify the payer of reasons of refusal of the objection and in that case, if the owner of the goods still insist on his/her objection, he/she may request reference of the case to the customs disputes settlement commission within ten days from the date of serving notification and without depositing any deposit. Reference of the case shall be possible not more than six months after above mentioned period and it shall require securing the amount which is claimed.

Article 139: If no payment and no objection occurs in periods referred to in article 144 of this law and in other cases in which a claim becomes outright under this law, executive operations of collecting claims shall begin.

Article 140:From the date on which a claim becomes outright, in addition to the margin, a penalty for deferred payment equivalent to half percent (0/5%) of the amount of the deduction shall be calculated and collected in lieu of per month with comparison to delayed period.

Chapter 3 – Surcharges

Article 141: Requests for refunding surcharges which are made after releasing of the goods from the customs shall be given effect when the following conditions are met:

a. Each requests for refunding surcharges should only be related to one customs permit or license, and the amount of and the reasons of refunding request should be mentioned therein.

b. Submitting the original copy of the permit or license for refunding surcharges shall be obligatory; unless it is proved that the original
document has been lost. In such a case the applicant should deposit a pledge so that in case the opposite is detected, he/she could bear the responsibility.

c. Criterion for recognition of submitting date of a request for refunding surcharges shall be its registration date in the customs in which the goods are cleared and/or Iran Customs Administration.

d. Signing day of permit and registration day request for refunding surcharges shall not be calculated in six-month deadline.

Article 142:The amount of surcharges shall be paid to the owner of goods or his/her legal representative who is entitled to receive the fees within one month since it becomes outright. In case of delay in payment, the customs shall pay an amount from the fees collected penalties referred to in article 140 as a penalty to the owner of the goods which is equivalent to half percent (0/5%) of the amount of the surcharges in lieu of per month.

Note: The customs shall, after refunding the surcharges, be obliged to insert the case, while mentioning the amount, on the original copy of customs permit or license and declaration; unless it is proved that the original document have been lost. In such a case the applicant should deposit a formal pledge so that in case the opposite is detected, he/she could bear the whole responsibility.

Chapter 4 – Post clearance audit

Article 143: In order to ensure compliance with customs regulations, within three years from issuing date of the documents by virtue of which the goods are released from the customs and in case of detecting untrue documents which do not subject it to smuggling, Iran Customs Administration shall, about release of goods that entails any fiscal losses for the government and/or establishes unjustified privileges for the owner of the goods, be obliged to determine and collect a fine equals to thirty percent (30%) to three times of the value of the goods referred to in the document. Collection of such penalties shall not prevent the prosecution of the case by the relevant articles of the Islamic Penal Code.

Note 1: In case of the fees refunded unduly be forgery and dissimulation, in addition to collecting the original refunded amount, a penalty equal to one hundred percent (100%) of it shall also be collected.

Note 2: The owners of the goods, transport companies, customs brokers and other concerned persons shall be obliged to submit available documents and evidences requested, as the case may be, by the customs in relation to addressed case.