In economics, a duty is a kind of tax, often associated with customs, a payment due to the revenue of a state, levied by force of law. It is a tax on certain items purchased abroad.^[1] Properly, a duty differs from a tax in being levied on specific commodities, financial transactions, estates, etc., and not on individuals; thus it is right to talk of import duties, excise duties, death or succession duties, etc., but not of income tax as being levied on a person in proportion to his income.

Customs duty[link]

Customs duty is a kind of indirect tax which is realized on goods of international trade. In economic sense, it is also a kind of consumption tax. Duties levied by the government in relation to imported items is referred to as import duty. In the same vein, duties realized on export consignments is called export duty. Tariff, which is actually a list of commodities along with the leviable rate (amount) of Customs duty, is popularly understood as Customs duty.

Calculation of Customs duty[link]

Calculation of Customs duty depends on the determination of what is called assessable value in case of items for which the duty is levied ad valorem. This is often the transaction value unless the Customs officers determines assessable value in accordance with Brussels definition.

However, for certain items like petroleum and alcohol, Customs duty is realized at a specific rate applied to the volume of the import or export consignments.

H. S. Code[link]

For the purpose of assessment of Customs duty, products are given an identification code that has come to be known as the Harmonized System code. This code has been evolved and assigned by the World Customs Organization based in Brussels. H. S. Code may be from four to ten digits. For example 17.03 is the H. S. Code for molasses from the extraction or refining of sugar. However, within 17.03, the number 17.03.90 stands for "Molasses (Excluding Cane Molasses)".

Introduction of H. S. Code in 1990s has largely replaced what used to be known as SITC or Standard International Trade Classification, though SITC remains in use for statistical purposes. In drawing up the national tariff, the revenue departments often specifies the rate of Customs duty with reference to the H. S. Code of the product. In some countries and customs unions, 6-digit HS codes are locally extended to 8 digits or 10 digits for further tariff discrimination: for example the European Union uses its 8-digit CN (Combined Nomenclature) and 10-digit TARIC codes.

Customs department[link]

The national authority that is entrusted the task of realizing taxes on international trade is often referred to as Customs department. Normally the Customs department operates under a national law and is authorized to examine the cargo in order to ascertain actual description, specification volume or quantity, so that the assessable value and the rate of duty may be correctly determined and applied.

Evasion of Customs duty[link]

Evasion of Customs Duties takes place mainly in two ways. In one, the trader under-declares the value so that the assessable value is lower than actual. In a similar vein, a trader can evade Customs duty by understatement of quantity or volume of the product of trade. Evasion of Customs duty may take place without or in collaboration of Customs officials. Evasion of customs duty does not necessarily constitute smuggling.

Duty-free goods[link]

Duty-free is the term that is often used to describe goods bought at ports and airports that do not attract the usual government taxes and customs duties. Some countries impose allowances in order to restrict the number of Duty-free items that one person can import into the country. These restrictions often apply to tobacco, wine, spirits, eau de toilette, gifts and souvenirs. Often foreign diplomats and UN officials are entitled to Duty-free goods. Duty-free goods are imported and stocked in what is called Bonded warehouse.

References[link]

1. ^ Sullivan, Arthur; Steven M. Sheffrin (2003). Economics: Principles in action. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458: Pearson Prentice Hall. pp. 450. ISBN 0-13-063085-3. 

See also[link]

Business and economics portal

• Tariff
• Free economic zone
• Free port
• Duty-free shop
• Smuggling
• Tax Evasion

"Duty" by Edmund Leighton

Duty (from "due" meaning "that which is owing"; Old French: deu, did, past participle of devoir; Latin: debere, debitum, whence "debt") is a term that conveys a sense of moral commitment or obligation to someone or something. The moral commitment should result in action^{[citation needed]}, it is not a matter of passive feeling or mere recognition. When someone recognizes a duty, that person theoretically commits themself to its fulfillment without considering their own self-interest. This is not to suggest that living a life of duty entirely precludes a life of leisure, but fulfilling generally involve some sacrifice of immediate self-interest. Typically, "the demands of justice, honor, and reputation are deeply bound up" with duty.^[1]

Cicero, an early philosopher who discusses duty in his work “On Duty", suggests that duties can come from four different sources:^[2]

1. as result of being human
2. as a result of one's particular place in life (one's family, one's country, one's job)
3. as a result of one's character
4. as a result of one's own moral expectations for oneself

Various derivative uses of the word have sprung from the root idea of obligation, a concept involved in the notion of duty; thus it is used in the services performed by a minister of a church, by a soldier, or by any employee or servant.

Many schools of thought have debated the idea of duty. While many assert mankind's duty on their own terms, some philosophers have absolutely rejected a sense of duty^{[citation needed]}.

Duty has to be accepted and understood on the basis of one's foundation of sense and knowledge. Therefore, duty and its manifestations vary with values from culture to culture.

Civic duty[link]

Duty is also often perceived as something owed to one’s country or homeland. Duty to one’s country, also known as patriotism, includes paying taxes, working for the government, joining the military, buying war bonds in times of need, etc.

Filial duty[link]

Lady Feng and the Bear

In most cultures, children are expected to take on duties in relation to their families. This may take the form of behaving in such a way that upholds the family’s honor in the eyes of the community, entering into arranged marriages that benefit the family’s status, or caring for ailing relatives. This family-oriented sense of duty is a particularly central aspect to the teachings of Confucius, and is known as xiao, or filial piety. As such, the duties of filial piety have played an enormous role in the lives of people in eastern Asia for centuries. For example, the painting Lady Feng and the Bear, from ancient China, depicts the heroic act of a consort of the emperor placing herself between her husband and a rampaging bear. This is meant to be taken as an example of admirable filial behavior. Filial piety is considered so important that it often outweighs other cardinal virtues: In a more modern example, “concerns with filial piety of the same general sort that motivate women to engage in factory work in Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and elsewhere in Asia are commonly cited by Thai prostitutes as one of their primary rationales for working in the skin trade”.^[3] This sense of filial piety is deeply ingrained, as is evidenced in this Chinese girl’s story relayed by Tiantian Zheng in her book Red Lights:

“‘My father almost killed me twice. When I was three … [he] tried to crush my head … You can still see the scars around my eyes. … when I was six… [he] nearly drown[ed] me. … I never minded it… After all, they’re my parents. They brought me up and they raised me. I… washed my father’s underwear and … his feet… I said, “I’m your daughter-- isn’t it natural for me to do this for you?’”^[4]

Duty in various cultures[link]

Duty varies between different cultures and continents. Duty in Asia and Latin America is commonly more heavily weighted than in Western culture. According to a study done on attitudes toward family obligation:

"Asian and Latin American adolescents possessed stronger values and greater expectations regarding their duty to assist, respect, and support their families than their peers with European backgrounds." ^[5]

The deeply rooted tradition of duty among both Asian and Latin American cultures contributes to much of the strong sense of duty that exists in comparison to western cultures. Michael Peletz discusses the concept of duty in his book Gender, Sexuality, and Body Politics in Modern Asia:

"Notions of filial duty … are commonly invoked to mobilize the loyalties, labor power, and other recourses children in the ostensible interests of the household and, in some cases, those of the lineage clan as a whole. Doctrines of filial piety … attuned to them may thus be a source of great comfort and solace to the elders but they can also be experienced as stressful, repressive, or both by those who are enjoined to honor their parents’ (and grandparents’) wishes and unspoken expectations."^[6]

An arranged marriage is an example of an expected duty in Asia and the Middle East. In an arranged marriage relating to duty, it is expected that the wife will move in with the husband’s family and household to raise their children. Rarely does the man move in with the woman, or that the married couple is allowed to start their own household and life somewhere else. They need to provide for the entire family in labor and care for the farms and family. Older generations rely heavily on the help from their children's and grandchildren's families. This form of duty is in response to keeping the lineage (anthropology) of a family intact and obliging to the needs of elders.

See also[link]

• Filial piety
• Obedient Wives Club

References[link]

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

1. ^ http://www.pvv.ntnu.no/~leirbakk/rpg/mythus/mythus_samurai.html
2. ^ Cicero, Marcus T. De Officiis. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1913. Print.
3. ^ Peletz, Michael Gates. Gender, Sexuality, and Body Politics in Modern Asia. Ann Arbor, MI: Association for Asian Studies, 2011. Print.
4. ^ Zheng, Tiantian. Red Lights: The Lives of Sex Workers in Postsocialist China. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 2009. Print.
5. ^ Fuligni, A. J., Tseng, V. and Lam, M. (1999), Attitudes toward Family Obligations among American Adolescents with Asian, Latin American, and European Backgrounds. Child Development, 70: 1030–1044. doi: 10.1111/1467-8624.00075.
6. ^ Peletz, Michael G. Gender, Sexuality, and Body Politics in Modern Asia. Ann Arbor: Association for Asian Studies, 2011. Print.

External links[link]

• Duty on In Our Time at the BBC. (listen now)