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Your power to winRefunds of overpaid payments
Once a court has declared unlawful and set aside a customs authority’s decision on the customs value of imported goods, under which excessive payments were made because the customs value was increased compared with the value originally declared, the question arises of refunding the payments made to the state budget in excess.
An administrative court decision setting aside a customs decision to adjust the customs value of goods establishes that the customs value determined by the declarant was correct and is therefore the basis for concluding that customs payments were overpaid.
Once a court decision in the importer’s favour becomes final, the importer may file with customs an application for the refund of the overpaid funds, together with a copy of the court decision and of the customs declaration under which the imported goods were cleared. On the basis of these documents, customs must prepare and submit to the State Treasury a conclusion on the refund of the overpaid amounts, which is the basis for transferring the funds to the importer’s current account.
The procedure for refunding amounts paid by the declarant is set out in the Customs Code of Ukraine, the Tax Code of Ukraine, the Budget Code of Ukraine and Procedure No. 643 for the refund of advance payments (prepayments) and of customs payments paid by mistake and/or in excess, approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine of 18.07.2017.
Unfortunately, real life shows that customs offices often reject such refund applications without grounds or delay considering them for a long time. As a result, the importer cannot get the money back, because without a positive conclusion from customs the State Treasury will not transfer the funds.
The way out is to bring a claim against customs before an administrative court to oblige the customs authorities to consider the importer’s application for the refund of overpaid funds from the State Budget of Ukraine in the manner prescribed by law, or to oblige customs to prepare and submit to the relevant regional office of the State Treasury Service of Ukraine a conclusion on refunding to the importer the overpaid customs duty and value added tax. The second claim is the more effective remedy, as it obliges customs to take the specific steps needed to return to the importer the funds overpaid during customs clearance of the import.
WinnerLex attorneys’ long and successful practice in resolving customs disputes allows us to effectively challenge unlawful decisions, actions or inaction of customs authorities.
representation before customs and State Treasury authorities in the refund of overpaid amounts;
drafting applications, requests and other legal documents needed to obtain a refund of overpaid amounts;
advice on the refund of overpaid funds;
representing the client in court in disputes to oblige customs authorities to prepare and submit to the relevant regional office of the State Treasury Service of Ukraine conclusions on refunding overpaid amounts to the importer.
An administrative court decision setting aside a customs decision to adjust the customs value of goods establishes that the customs value determined by the declarant was correct and is therefore the basis for concluding that customs payments were overpaid.
Once the court’s decision declaring the customs authority’s actions unlawful and setting aside the customs value adjustment decision and the refusal card has become final, the declarant must first of all obtain it.
The declarant should remember that it must have no tax debt, as such a debt will prevent the refund of overpaid amounts even on entirely lawful grounds.
The application for the refund of overpaid amounts must be accompanied not only by a copy of the customs declaration under which the excess was paid, but also by a copy of the court decision setting aside the customs authority’s decision on the customs value of the goods.
Under case law, where customs groundlessly refuses to issue a conclusion on the refund of overpaid customs payments, courts do not protect the importer’s right to the refund by ordering recovery of the overpaid customs payments as such. Where customs unlawfully fails to consider the importer’s refund application, the most common judicial remedy is an order obliging customs to consider the application in accordance with the law, or to submit to the relevant office of the State Treasury Service a conclusion on the refund of the overpaid customs payments.
Under Article 301 of the Customs Code of Ukraine, customs payments paid by mistake and/or in excess are refunded in accordance with the Budget and Tax Codes of Ukraine and Procedure No. 643, approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine of 18.07.2017.
Once the court decision declaring unlawful the customs decision on the customs value, under which the excess was paid, becomes final, you need to obtain the court decision in hand and prepare an application for the refund of the overpaid amounts.
The application must be accompanied by a duly certified copy of the court decision declaring unlawful and setting aside the customs value adjustment decision and a certified copy of the customs declaration under which the goods were cleared. Remember that a tax debt will lead the customs authority to refuse the refund, so overpaid amounts can be refunded from the budget only if the declarant has no tax debt.
Within twenty days, the customs authority prepares a conclusion on the refund of the overpaid customs payments for the relevant office of the State Treasury Service, which transfers the funds to the importer’s current account stated in the refund application.