The organisers of the inaugural Indian Grand Prix have allayed fears surrounding the payment of custom taxes on the equipment transported into the county for the race.
The teams had raised some concerns that they would have to pay temporary import tax on their equipment after the Indian government refused to grant an exemption, as most hosts do for sporting events.
The national media reports that the main reason behind this, is because the government doesn’t class Formula 1 as a sporting event, nor is it of ‘national importance’, according to the Chairman of the Central Board of Exise and Customs.
“When equipment is imported for sports events of national importance, the Sports Ministry issues a certificate on the basis of which Customs Department issues exemption notification subject to them [the equipment] getting exported back. For Commonwealth Games and the [cricket] World Cup, those certificates were issued, so we gave exemption,” Mr Majumder told PTI.
“In this case, the Sports Ministry has not given any certificate, so there is no question of granting any exemption. This is not an event of national importance so no such exemption is required.”
However, the organisers, Jaypee Sports International Limited, have committed to paying the taxes if the situation cannot be resolved.
“JPSI has full support from the government, the sports ministry and the customs department for the F1 event scheduled for October this year,” Sameer Gaur, CEO of JPSI said in a statement.
“We have an in-principle approval from the customs department for creating a customs bonded area for F1 equipment that will be temporarily imported to India.
“If required, as per the law of the land, JPSI will pay customs duties and taxes etc. for the temporary import of equipment. The estimated value of this equipment is about Rs. 150 crore (£20m) and the final duty payable on this will be approximately Rs. eight crore (£1,062,000).”
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