Government Raises Duty On Gold, Silver Findings & Coins; Will It Affect Retail Prices?

New Delhi: The Government on Tuesday increased the import duty on gold and silver findings and coins to 15% by imposing a 5% Agriculture Infrastructure Development Cess (AIDC). A cess of 4.35% has also been levied on ‘spent catalyst or ash containing precious metals’, according to a notification issued by the Central Board Of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC). The move has been made to check the misuse of lower customs duty on certain types of gold, silver and plug a loophole.

This is in addition to the basic customs duty of 10%. The new levies kicked in on Monday. For the last few months, the industry has been complaining of a surge in imports of gold findings, which include hooks, clasps, and other components used to make jewellery. Now government has stepped in to bring duties on a par.

“We don’t think it will affect prices of these metals as genuine buyers were not aware of the import duty difference but definitely it will pause import of findings in the shorter terms,” Rahul Kalantri, vice president of commodities at Mehta Equities told Times of India.

In the 2021-22 Budget, the government had introduced AIDC cess on certain items to fund agricultural infrastructure.