The Ministry of Finance, Government of India issued Notification no. 30/2016 [F. No. 201/04/2016-CX-6], dated 28th June 2016, wherein it has specified the following:

  1. A person who is registered as a first stage dealer shall not be required to take registration as an importer; or
  2. A person who is registered as an importer shall not be required to take registration as a first stage dealer.

As per Rule 2 of Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004, "first stage dealer" means a dealer, who purchases the goods directly from,-

  1. the manufacturer under the cover of an invoice issued in terms of the provisions of Central Excise Rules, 2002 or from the depot of the said manufacturer, or from premises of the consignment agent of the said manufacturer or from any other premises from where the goods are sold by or on behalf of the said manufacturer, under cover of an invoice; or
  2. an importer or from the depot of an importer or from the premises of the consignment agent of the importer, under cover of an invoice;

Further, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has also issued Circular No. 1032/20/2016-CX in this regard, dated 28th June, 2016, wherein it has clarified the following three points:

  1. An assessee who conducts business both as an importer and a First Stage Dealer may take only one registration as he is exempted from taking a second registration. CBEC also clarified here that that the facility is optional and any assessee needing separate registration for his own business, may so register.
  2. Further, such assessee who conducts business both as a First stage Dealer and an Importer, henceforth shall also have the option of filing a single quarterly return giving details of transactions as a first stage dealer and an importer, one after the other in the same table of the return, viz. all transactions as first stage dealer during the return period shall be followed by transactions as an importer during the same return period
  3. Finally, CBEC also mentioned that any difficulty experienced in the implementation of the circular should be brought to the notice of the Board.

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