Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) has issued a Circular No. 02/2020 dated 10th January, 2020 to provide clarification on the Social Welfare Surcharge (SWS) that are levied and collected on imports (at the rate of ten per cent on the aggregate value of duties, taxes and cesses) under various schemes such has Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS), Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS).
Key Points of the Trade Notice are:
- It has been clarified that SWS is not exempted and has to be levied and collected on the imported goods.
- Payment of SWS cannot be debited through duty credit scrips and therefore has to be paid by the importers in cash.
- It has been clarified that the past cases of debits of SWS already made in duty credit scrips shall not be disturbed and the payments made though debit in duty credit scrips may be accepted as revenue duly collected.
Source: Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs
