CENTRAL BOARD OF EXCISE AND CUSTOMS
- Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) deals with the tasks of formulation of policy concerning levy and collection of Customs and Central Excise duties, Service tax, prevention of smuggling and evasion of duties and all administrative matters relating to Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax formations.
- It also ensures that taxes on foreign and inland travel are administrated as per the law and the collection agencies deposit the taxes collected to the public exchequer promptly.
ANTI-SMUGGLING UNIT
The following measures have been introduced with a View to help detect and curb evasion of customs duty and frauds:
- India has signed various Customs Mutual Assistance Agreements and MOU with various countries to promote sharing of intelligence.
- Customs Overseas Intelligence Network (COIN) provides actionable intelligence for facilitating seizures of offending goods and to detect evasion of customs duty.
- Use of National Import Database (NIDB) helps in detecting under-valuation of imported goods.
- Intelligence Support System (ISS) provides for development of intelligence and for analyzing macro-level inputs into macro level workable intelligence.
- In order to disseminate information about new modus operandi, DRI shares details of important causes booked by it through circulars. These circulars are also used for targeting in the ‘Risk Management Framework’.
- The field formations and DRI also share the information / intelligence and details of cases with other agencies directly as well as by reporting to the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB) and at Regional Economic Intelligence Councils (REIC) meetings.
DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF INSPECTION CUSTOMS AND CENTRAL EXCISE
- This Directorate General was constituted in 1939, as part of the Board office for conducting periodical inspections and for advising the Board on technical questions and on standardization of organization and procedure in the Customs houses and the Central Excise Commissionerates.
- It was separated from the Board on 1st April, 1946 and given the status of an attached office.
- The main functions of the Directorate General of Inspection are:— to study the working of the Customs, Central Excise Departmental machinery throughout the country; to suggest measures for improvement of its efficiency and rectification of important defects in it through inspection and by laying down procedures for smooth functioning etc.
CUSTOMS, EXCISE AND SERVICE TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL
- The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (earlier Customs Excise and Gold (Control) Appellate Tribunal) was created to provide an independent forum to hear the appeals against orders and decisions passed by the Commissioners of Customs and Excise under the Customs Act, 1962, Central Excise Act, 1944 and Gold (Control) Act, 1968.
- The Gold (Control) Act, 1968 has now been repealed.
- Presently Service Tax appeals have been included.
- The Tribunal is also having appellate jurisdiction in anti-dumping matters and the special bench headed by the President, CESTAT, hears the appeals against the orders passed by the designated authority in the Ministry of Commerce.
- The Head Quarter as well as the Principal Bench of the Tribunal is situated in Delhi and other regional benches are situated in Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad.
- Ministry of Finance has notified the creation of additional six benches of Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appelleate Tribunal in Chandigarh, Allahabad and Hyderabad in addition to one each in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai.