Section 4 — Levy of duty where standard rate and preferential rate are specified

2-minute view

Provides the statutory mechanism where the First Schedule itself contains a preferential rate or a preference is otherwise admissible. The standard rate applies unless the importer validly claims preferential treatment and the goods satisfy the prescribed origin framework for the notified preferential area.

Statutory position and legal effect

For Section 4, the legal answer should be built in layers. First identify what the section itself does; second identify the Schedule, notification, rule or investigation record that activates it for the goods and date; third reconcile that result with the Customs Act assessment machinery. This avoids a frequent customs error: treating a statutory power, a tariff rate and an effective rate as if they were the same thing.

The material date matters because tariff lines, exemptions, origin rules and trade-remedy measures change independently. A defensible file should therefore retain the exact tariff extract and notification version used in the assessment. Where this page is marked historical or transitional, the section should be cited only for a period when it legally operated or for explaining the transition to the current framework.

From an evidence perspective, the strongest working paper is not a screenshot of a duty calculator. It is a reconciliation showing the declared tariff item, legal notes considered, statutory rate, effective notification serial, preference/origin basis, additional levies, trade-remedy measure if any, and the arithmetic from customs value to final duty. Section 4 should occupy its correct place in that chain.

Official text control: use the India Code/Gazette version of Section 4 and the Schedule or delegated instrument applicable on the transaction date. This page intentionally explains the law rather than reproducing a long unofficial bare-act extract.

Applicability, rights, obligations and decision workflow

1. Step 1. Identify the exact preference claimed and the legal instrument granting it.
2. Step 2. Confirm that the exporter country/territory is within the notified preferential area.
3. Step 3. Apply the agreement-specific origin criterion, product-specific rule, direct-consignment and documentary requirements.
4. Step 4. Complete the bill-of-entry preference declaration and retain origin-supporting information.
5. Step 5. If Customs raises reasonable doubt, respond through Section 28DA/CAROTAR before verification escalates.

Modern preference work must also be read with Section 28DA of the Customs Act, CAROTAR 2020 and the agreement-specific rules of origin. A certificate or proof of origin is evidence, but the importer’s due-diligence and origin-information obligations are separately enforceable.

Thresholds, provisos, timelines and interaction with other law

The section must be read with the Customs Act, the tariff Schedules and any subordinate instrument that gives it transaction-level effect. Where the provision contains a power rather than a self-executing charge, no duty or obligation should be assumed without locating the notification, rule, agreement or investigation determination that activates the power. Historical provisions require the same material-date discipline.

Rate changes, classification changes and trade-remedy measures are different legal events. The file should say exactly which one occurred and should not infer the enabling provision merely from the fact that the landed duty increased or decreased.

Rules, notifications, Finance Acts and operational instruments

Case law — provision-specific research matrix

Worked example

An importer claims a preferential rate for alloy products from an FTA partner. The certificate of origin alone is not the entire file: the importer should hold product-specific origin information, value-content calculations where required and direct-consignment evidence.

Professional result: document the legal route before doing the arithmetic. A short computation that identifies the correct provision and current notification is stronger than a long calculation based on an obsolete tariff or historical measure.

Evidence and compliance checklist

• Material date and customs event.
• Exact 8-digit tariff item and candidate headings considered.
• Relevant Section/Chapter/Subheading Notes and GRI reasoning.
• Statutory Schedule rate and effective exemption/preference rate.
• Current notification/rule/Finance Act extract with effective date.
• Section 3 additional levies and separate trade-remedy duty, if any.
• Origin/FTA support where a preferential rate is claimed.
• Assessment/order and calculation reconciliation retained with source links.

Common mistakes and professional traps

• Assuming country of export equals country of origin
• Claiming preference after clearance without testing the statutory route
• Relying only on a certificate while ignoring Section 28DA reasonable-care duties
• Using the wrong agreement’s product-specific rule
• Using an old manual or judgment for a current tariff rate without checking later amendments.
• Quoting a four-digit HSN heading when the legal outcome turns on an eight-digit tariff item or a national note.

Related provisions and research routes

• Customs Act section 12 — charging provision
• Customs Act section 14 — valuation
• First Schedule / General Rules for Interpretation
• CBIC effective-rate and exemption notifications
• Customs Act section 28DA
• CAROTAR 2020 and agreement-specific origin rules

FAQs