TITLE IIICUSTOMS DEBT AND GUARANTEES
CHAPTER 3Recovery, payment, repayment and remission of the amount of import or export duty
Section 2Payment of the amount of import or export duty
Article 108General time-limits for payment and suspension of the time-limit for payment
1
Amounts of import or export duty, corresponding to a customs debt notified in accordance with Article 102, shall be paid by the debtor within the period prescribed by the customs authorities.
Without prejudice to Article 45(2), that period shall not exceed 10 days following notification to the debtor of the customs debt. In the case of aggregation of entries in the accounts under the conditions laid down in the second subparagraph of Article 105(1), it shall be so fixed as not to enable the debtor to obtain a longer period for payment than if he or she had been granted deferred payment in accordance with Article 110.
The customs authorities may extend that period upon application by the debtor where the amount of import or export duty payable has been determined in the course of post-release control as referred to in Article 48. Without prejudice to Article 112(1), such extensions shall not exceed the time necessary for the debtor to take the appropriate steps to discharge his or her obligation.
2
If the debtor is entitled to any of the payment facilities laid down in Articles 110 to 112, payment shall be made within the period or periods specified in relation to those facilities.
3
The time-limit for payment of the amount of import or export duty corresponding to a customs debt shall be suspended in any of the following cases:
a
where an application for remission of duty is made in accordance with Article 121;
b
where goods are to be confiscated, destroyed or abandoned to the State;
c
where the customs debt was incurred pursuant to Article 79 and there is more than one debtor.
Article 109Payment
1
Payment shall be made in cash or by any other means with similar discharging effect, including by adjustment of a credit balance, in accordance with national legislation.
2
Payment may be made by a third person instead of the debtor.
3
The debtor may in any case pay all or part of the amount of import or export duty without awaiting expiry of the period he or she has been granted for payment.
C4C3Article 110Deferment of payment
The customs authorities shall, upon application by the person concerned and upon provision of a guarantee, authorise deferment of payment of the duty payable in any of the following ways:
- (a)
separately in respect of each amount of import or export duty entered in the accounts in accordance with the first subparagraph of Article 105(1), or Article 105(4);
- (b)
globally in respect of all amounts of import or export duty entered in the accounts in accordance with the first subparagraph of Article 105(1) during a period fixed by the customs authorities and not exceeding 31 days;
- (c)
globally in respect of all amounts of import or export duty forming a single entry in accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 105(1).
Article 111Periods for which payment is deferred
1
The period for which payment is deferred under Article 110 shall be 30 days.
2
Where payment is deferred in accordance with point (a) of Article 110, the period shall begin on the day following that on which the customs debt is notified to the debtor.
3
Where payment is deferred in accordance with point (b) of Article 110, the period shall begin on the day following that on which the aggregation period ends. It shall be reduced by the number of days corresponding to half the number of days covered by the aggregation period.
4
Where payment is deferred in accordance with point (c) of Article 110, the period shall begin on the day following the end of the period fixed for release of the goods in question. It shall be reduced by the number of days corresponding to half the number of days covered by the period concerned.
5
Where the number of days in the periods referred to in paragraphs 3 and 4 is an odd number, the number of days to be deducted from the 30-day period pursuant to those paragraphs shall be equal to half the next lowest even number.
6
Where the periods referred to in paragraphs 3 and 4 are weeks, Member States may provide that the amount of import or export duty in respect of which payment has been deferred is to be paid on the Friday of the fourth week following the week in question at the latest.
If those periods are months, Member States may provide that the amount of import or export duty in respect of which payment has been deferred is to be paid by the 16th day of the month following the month in question.
C2Article 112Other payment facilities
1
The customs authorities may grant the debtor payment facilities other than deferred payment on condition that a guarantee is provided.
2
Where facilities are granted pursuant to paragraph 1, credit interest shall be charged on the amount of import or export duty.
For a Member State whose currency is the euro, the rate of credit interest shall be equal to the interest rate as published in the Official Journal of the European Union, C series, which the European Central Bank applied to its main refinancing operations, on the first day of the month in which the due date fell, increased by one percentage point.
For a Member State whose currency is not the euro, the rate of credit interest shall be equal to the rate applied on the first day of the month in question by the National Central Bank for its main refinancing operations, increased by one percentage point, or, for a Member State for which the National Central Bank rate is not available, the most equivalent rate applied on the first day of the month in question on the Member State's money market, increased by one percentage point.
3
The customs authorities may refrain from requiring a guarantee or from charging credit interest where it is established, on the basis of a documented assessment of the situation of the debtor, that this would create serious economic or social difficulties.
4
The customs authorities shall refrain from charging credit interest where the amount for each recovery action is less than EUR 10.
Article 113Enforcement of payment
Where the amount of import or export duty payable has not been paid within the prescribed period, the customs authorities shall secure payment of that amount by all means available to them under the law of the Member State concerned.
Article 114Interest on arrears
1
Interest on arrears shall be charged on the amount of import or export duty from the date of expiry of the prescribed period until the date of payment.
For a Member State whose currency is the euro, the rate of interest on arrears shall be equal to the interest rate as published in the Official Journal of the European Union, C series, which the European Central Bank applied to its main refinancing operations, on the first day of the month in which the due date fell, increased by two percentage points.
For a Member State whose currency is not the euro, the rate of interest on arrears shall be equal to the rate applied on the first day of the month in question by the National Central Bank for its main refinancing operations, increased by two percentage points, or, for a Member State for which the National Central Bank rate is not available, the most equivalent rate applied on the first day of the month in question on the Member State's money market, increased by two percentage points.
2
Where the customs debt is incurred on the basis of Article 79 or 82, or where the notification of the customs debt results from a post-release control, interest on arrears shall be charged over and above the amount of import or export duty, from the date on which the customs debt was incurred until the date of its notification.
The rate of interest on arrears shall be set in accordance with paragraph 1.
C13
The customs authorities may refrain from charging interest on arrears where it is established, on the basis of a documented assessment of the situation of the debtor, that to charge it would create serious economic or social difficulties.
C14
The customs authorities shall refrain from charging interest on arrears where the amount for each recovery action is less than EUR 10.
Article 115Delegation of power
The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts, in accordance with Article 284, in order to determine the rules for the suspension of the time-limit for payment of the amount of import or export duty corresponding to a customs debt referred to in Article 108(3) and the period of suspension.