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Customs and Excise Act 2018

Entry and exit of goods, persons, and craft - Assessment, payment, and recovery of duty - Charges on goods

130: Possession of goods if person claims to be purchaser for value without knowledge

You could also call this:

"What happens if you buy something fairly, but didn't know taxes were owed"

Illustration for Customs and Excise Act 2018

If you buy something and think you did it fairly, without knowing any taxes were owed, you can tell the chief executive. You do this if there is a dispute about whether you really bought it fairly, as described in section 129(3). The chief executive will then decide what to do with the goods.

If the chief executive already has the goods, they will keep them until the dispute is resolved. You can go to court to figure out if you really bought the goods fairly and without knowing taxes were owed. The court will help resolve the dispute.

If the goods might get damaged or lose value, the chief executive can sell them, or you can sell them with the chief executive's permission. The money from the sale will be used instead of the goods. You might need to prove you bought the goods fairly if you are related to the person who owes the taxes, as explained in section 131.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM7039391.

Topics:
Money and consumer rights > TaxesCrime and justice > Courts and legal help
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129: Duty is charge on goods, or

"You must pay a fee called duty when you bring goods into New Zealand."

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131: Related persons for purposes of section 130(5), or

"Who are considered related people under the law?"

Part 3Entry and exit of goods, persons, and craft
Assessment, payment, and recovery of duty: Charges on goods

130Possession of goods if person claims to be purchaser for value without knowledge

  1. This section applies if—

  2. a person notifies the chief executive that the person is a purchaser to whom section 129(3) applies in respect of any goods; but
    1. there is a dispute between that person and the chief executive as to whether section 129(3) applies.

      1. If the chief executive has taken possession of the goods under section 129(2)(a) but the goods have not been sold, the chief executive must retain possession of the goods pending the resolution of the dispute.

      2. If the chief executive has not yet taken possession of the goods under section 129(2)(a), the chief executive may,—

      3. if the goods are in the possession, or under the control, of the importer, take possession of the goods and retain possession of them pending the resolution of the dispute:
        1. if the goods are in the possession, or under the control, of the purchaser, direct the purchaser, by notice in writing, to retain the possession or control of the goods pending the resolution of the dispute.

          1. The chief executive or the purchaser may apply to the court for a declaration as to whether the goods were acquired by the purchaser for valuable consideration and without knowledge that the duty was owing and unpaid.

          2. In any proceeding under subsection (4), if the purchaser and a person liable to pay the duty are related (see section 131), the onus of proving that the goods were acquired for valuable consideration and without knowledge that the duty was owing and unpaid is on the purchaser.

          3. If any goods that the chief executive has taken possession of, or has directed the purchaser to retain possession or control of under this section, consist wholly or partly of a living creature or any thing that, in the opinion of the chief executive, is perishable or that may otherwise lose its value if it is not sold as soon as possible,—

          4. the chief executive, or the purchaser with the prior consent of the chief executive, may sell the goods; and
            1. the net proceeds of the sale are substituted for the thing sold.

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