New Delhi, Mar 23 (KNN) The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the Amendment in the Customs and Excise Act, relating to abolition of cesses and surcharges on various goods and services to facilitate implementation of GST Regime.

The Cabinet has approved the proposals for Amendment to the Customs Act, 1962; Amendments to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975; Amendment to the Central Excise Act, 1944; Repeal of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985; and Amendment or repeal of the provisions relating to Acts under which cesses are levied.

The Insertion of Sections 108A and 108B in the Customs Act, 1962 seeks to provide for furnishing of information relating to import/export of goods by specified persons to enable analysis and detection of cases of unter/over-valuation in imports and exports, misuse of export promotion schemes including the Drawback Scheme and violations of the provisions of the Customs Act and various other laws under which Customs officials have been authorized to effectively implement these laws.

The proposal also seeks to amend or repeal various provisions of other Acts which will no longer be relevant consequent upon roll out of GST will result in cleansing of the irrelevant portions from the Statute Book and reduce multiplicity of taxes.