Cabinet approves amendments in Customs and Excise Act

New Delhi, March 23: The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved amendments to the Customs and Excise Act to pave way for the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime roll out from July 1.

Amendments to the Customs Act, 1962; Customs Tariff Act, 1975 and Central Excise Act, 1944 were approved by the Cabinet along with repealing of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 and provisions relating to Acts under which cesses are levied, an official statement said here.

"Amendments or repeal of various provisions of other Acts which will no longer be relevant consequent upon roll out of GST will result in a cleansing of the irrelevant portions from the Statute Book and reduce the multiplicity of taxes," it said.

Insertion in the Customs Act, 1962 seeks to provide for the furnishing of information relating to import/export of goods by specified persons to enable analysis and detection of cases of under/over-valuation in imports and exports and misuse of export promotion schemes, the statement said.