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Customs and Excise Act 2018

Final and miscellaneous provisions - Offences - Offences in relation to entries and related returns

364: Offences in relation to erroneous or defective entries, etc

You could also call this:

"Making mistakes on customs forms can lead to fines or even prison"

Illustration for Customs and Excise Act 2018

If you make an entry under the Customs and Excise Act that is wrong or defective, you commit an offence. This also applies if you make a return under section 82 or amend an assessment under section 112 that is wrong or defective. You can be fined if you are found guilty of this offence.

If you are an individual, you can be fined up to $1,000, and if you are a company, you can be fined up to $5,000. However, you have a defence if you can prove that you took all reasonable steps to ensure the entry, return, or amendment was correct.

If you knowingly help make an entry, return, or amendment that is wrong or defective, you also commit an offence. If you are found guilty of this, you can be imprisoned for up to 6 months or fined. The fine can be up to $10,000 for an individual, or 3 times the value of the goods involved. For a company, the fine can be up to $50,000, or 3 times the value of the goods involved.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM7039827.

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Part 6Final and miscellaneous provisions
Offences: Offences in relation to entries and related returns

364Offences in relation to erroneous or defective entries, etc

  1. A person commits an offence if the person—

  2. makes an entry under this Act that is erroneous or defective in a material particular; or
    1. makes a return under section 82 that is erroneous or defective in a material particular; or
      1. makes an amendment of an assessment under section 112 that is erroneous or defective in a material particular.

        1. A person who commits an offence under subsection (1) is liable on conviction,—

        2. in the case of an individual, to a fine not exceeding $1,000:
          1. in the case of a body corporate, to a fine not exceeding $5,000.

            1. It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence under subsection (1) if the defendant proves that the defendant took all reasonable steps to ensure that the entry, return, or amendment (as the case may be) was not erroneous or defective.

            2. A person commits an offence if the person—

            3. is concerned in the making of an entry under this Act knowing that the entry is erroneous or defective in a material particular; or
              1. is concerned in the making of a return under section 82 knowing that the return is erroneous or defective in a material particular; or
                1. is concerned in the making of an amendment of an assessment under section 112 knowing that the amendment is erroneous or defective in a material particular.

                  1. A person who commits an offence under subsection (4) is liable on conviction,—

                  2. in the case of an individual, to—
                    1. imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months; or
                      1. a fine not exceeding the greater of the following:
                        1. $10,000:
                          1. an amount equal to 3 times the value of the goods to which the offence relates:
                        2. in the case of a body corporate, to a fine not exceeding the greater of the following:
                          1. $50,000:
                            1. an amount equal to 3 times the value of the goods to which the offence relates.

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