Where there is a tax payable, there is incentive to
fraudulently reduce the tax. Customs duty, the tax payable on
imported goods, is no exception. A common method of fraudulently
reducing the tax payable is to declare a false value of the
imported goods. Recent cases have highlighted that the risks
associated with this conduct extend to purchasers who were not the
importer of record or involved in the fraud.
Not the importer? You can still be liable
You may think that if you are not the importer of record, you
are off the hook. While a Customs authority may first look to the
importer, in Australia there is precedent for the Customs authority
seeking underpaid duty from the innocent Australian end customer.
Similarly, a recent US case resulted in large fines being imposed
on an end customer that failed to do enough to prevent customs
valuation fraud by the supplier.
