Everything You Need to Know About Bill of Entry

Every year, goods worth millions of dollars are imported into countries. These goods need to go through a set procedure established by each country’s customs office to ensure the authorities charge the correct taxes and check the consignments for illegal imports. The process ideally includes examination, appraisal, assessment, and evaluation of the import commodities.

To enable the authorities to accurately and correctly inspect imported goods, each consignment comes with a set of documents that detail a consignment’s contents, the country that it was exported from, import licenses, bills of lading, insurance certificate, commercial invoice, and so on. Among these documents is the bill of entry. The Bill of Entry is one of the most important import documents.

What is the Bill of Entry?

As the name suggests, a Bill of Entry in import is a legal declaration document filled by an importer or a customs house agent under the Bill of Entry Regulations. It’s an important document required to initiate the import customs clearance process in a country. An importer has to specify all the necessary details in the Bill of Entry, including the type, quantity, and quality of goods that they’ve imported from a foreign country.

Once the customs authorities of both importing and exporting countries approve the goods, they’re then passed on to the importer.

A Bill of Entry is comparatively simpler to fill with a limited number of form fields. Ideally, the document includes the following components:

• Name and business address of the importer
• Name, business address, and the country of the exporter
• Name of the port of arrival and its code
• Description and value of the goods/consignment
• The license number of the importer
• Value of the import duty and payable rate
• Import-export code and CHA code

After filing the Bill of Entry, a commissioned customs magistrate will inspect the goods. Post the inspection, the importer is informed about the necessary customs duty, GST, and IGST compensations, if applications, to clear the goods for final dispatch to the importer’s destination. An importer can then assert a claim on input tax credit (ITC) for IGST and other payments. This, however, does not include standard customs duty.

How to Get a Bill of Entry

As per the officials, a Bill of Entry can be acquired from the customs office or online through the official government site. For instance, an importer in India can fill a Bill of Entry by logging on to ICEGATE or request a clearance agent to do the needful in lieu of a nominal fee.

Bill of Entry Format

Every government has its own set of rules describing a Bill of Entry. However, here’s a basic format for a Bill of Entry.

1. Code and license number of the port where goods arrive
2. Code of the customs house agent (CHA), import-export code (IEC), and name and business address of the importer.
3. Name of the vessel, shipment port, country of origin and its code, country of the consignment (if different from the country of origin), and its code
4. Date of issue of the bill of lading
5. Details of the goods and their value:

• Packaging and quantity
• Description of the goods, serial number, and unit code of the goods
• Number of packages in the consignment and their weight/volume
• Description of the goods
• Customs tariff heading that includes the exemption notification and year

6. Customs duty:

• Nature of the duty code
• Assessable goods value
• Additional charges such as landing and handling charges (if any)
• Basic rate and amount of customs duty levied

7. Additional duty:

• Central excise tariff (CET) owing to the notification of exemption and year
• Special additional duty (SAD) for customs
• Value, rate, and total additional duty

8. IGST:

• GST code
• IGST rate and amount
• Compensation cess amount

9. Exemption notification to claim IGST exemption and GST compensation

10. Total payable amount of duty (includes assessable value along with customs duty and any other additional charges) and the total number of packages

11. Declarations and signature of the customs house agent and the importer

Why is the Bill of Entry Important?

Every document mandated for imposters and exporters to fill has a legal significance behind it. The Bill of Entry is no exception.

A Bill of entry:

1. Enables importers to furnish all the necessary details of the consignment to the customs authority
2. Serves as a document of authentication informing the authorities that no illegal commodities have been imported into the country
3. Helps customs authorities to cross-verify all the necessary details from the documents submitted by an exporter at the country of export
4. Allows the customs office to charge the correct taxes and duties and avoid malpractices
5. Adds to the economic welfare of a country

To conclude, this is just an overview of what you need to know about the Bill of Entry. Since it’s one of the most important documents for an import in a country, you must get in-depth knowledge about this bill and its corresponding documents besides understanding the meaning of the Bill of Entry, to ensure a smooth goods importation process.

Difference between Bill of Entry and Bill of Lading

The Bill of Lading and the Bill of Entry are two completely unique documents. Here are the major differences between them.

• The Bill of Lading is issued by a shipping company when the commodities being transported are loaded onto a ship. The Bill of Entry on the other hand must exist for every commodity being imported into a country.
• Bills of Lading help in identifying and maintaining information about the consignments being transported with details such as quantity, weight, etc. The bill of entry is used to calculate duties that will apply to a particular consignment.
• Bills of Lading are issued for the buyer/seller and help ensure that each shipment reaches where it needs to go. Bills of Entry are created by customs broker and filed in the Customs Department of a country.

Did you know? Tools like Trademo Intel collect global Bill of Lading data to provide supply chain insights.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Who will prepare the bill of entry?

The Bill of Entry is prepared by an importer declaring the value, quantity, and necessary details of the goods imported into the country.

What is the BOE in import?

Bill of Entry in import is an essential document filled by an importer on or before the arrival of imported goods in a country declaring necessary consignment details. The bill enables the customs office to verify the consignment details and release them to an importer’s site.

How do I make a bill for entry payment?

Every country has its own defined method of payment for the Bill of Entry. In the United States particularly, you can make Bill of Entry payment through any of the following ways:

1. U.S. currency only
2. Issue a personal check with the exact amount, drawn in the name of a U.S. bank, made payable to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
3. Issue a government check, money order, or a traveler’s check if the amount is not more than $50.

How is the BOE value calculated?

Usually, the value of the Bill of Entry is calculated through the following formula:

Step 1: Transaction Value that contains free on board (FOB) and a few adjustments)

Step 2: Add cost of transport (including demurrage charges) associated with the delivery of imported goods to the importation destination Step 3: Add cost of insurance cover to the place of importation (if you’re unable to ascertain the cost of insurance, it will be 1.125% of FOB

Step 4: Total of Step 1 + Step 2 +Step 3)