M/s Coastal Imports Pvt. Ltd., a Mumbai-based importer of specialised industrial machinery, files a Bill of Entry for import of a consignment of…

19. The time-limit prescribed for concluding the enquiry and finalising the provisional assessment as per the Customs (Finalisation of Provisional Assessment) Regulations, 2025, is as under: Where duty leviable on imported/export goods is assessed provisionally by the proper officer because he deems it necessary to make further enquiry, the officer of customs shall complete the enquiry and transfer the relevant documents, along with a report in writing, to the proper officer for finalisation of assessment, within 14 months from the date of provisional assessment 8 . Further, the proper officer shall finalise the duty provisionally assessed, where it is possible to do so, within 3 months of conclusion of enquiry in accordance with regulation 5 above, where the duty leviable was assessed provisionally for that reason. An officer to whom the proper officer is subordinate may allow additional time period of 2 months at a time (for reasons to be recorded in writing) 9 . Moreover, the assessment shall be finalised within 2 years from the date of the provisional assessment 10 . However, the Commissioner of Customs may, on sufficient cause being shown and reasons to be recorded in writing, extend the period of 2 years for finalisation of provisional assessment by an additional time of 1 year in terms of the first proviso to section 18(1B) of the Customs Act, 1962 11 .