Finance Act 1950

General provisions

20 Supply of duty free goods to H.M. ships

(1) The Treasury may by regulations provide that, subject to any prescribed conditions, goods of any description specified in the regulations which are supplied either—

(a) to any ship of the Royal Navy in commission of a description so specified, for the use of persons serving in that ship (being persons borne on the books of that or some other ship of the Royal Navy or a naval establishment); or

(b) to the Admiralty, for the use of persons serving in ships of the Royal Navy or naval establishments;

shall for all or any purposes of any customs or excise duty or drawback in respect of those goods be treated as exported, and a person supplying or intending to supply goods as aforesaid shall be treated accordingly as exporting or intending to export them ; and on the coming into force of the first regulations under this section, sections one hundred and twenty-one to one hundred and twenty-five of the Customs Consolidation Act, 1876 (which provide for the supply of wines and tobacco free of duty to persons serving in the navy), shall cease to have effect.

(2) Regulations made under this section with respect to goods of any description may regulate or provide for regulating the quantity allowed to any ship or establishment, the manner in which they are to be obtained and their use or distribution.

(3) The regulations may contain such other incidental or supplementary provisions as appear to the Treasury to be necessary for the purposes of this section (including any adaptations of the enactments relating to customs or excise, and any transitional provisions consequential on the repeal of sections one hundred and twenty-one to one hundred and twenty-five of the Customs Consolidation Act, 1876), and may make different provision in relation to different cases, and in particular in relation to different classes or descriptions of goods or of ships or establishments.

(4) In this section the expression " prescribed " means prescribed by regulations under this section or, in pursuance of any such regulations, by the Commissioners after consultation with the Admiralty.

(5) The power of the Treasury to make regulations under this section shall be exercisable by statutory instrument, which shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of the Commons House of Parliament, and before making any such regulations the Treasury shall consult with the Admiralty and with the Commissioners.

(6) Subsection (1) of section eleven of the Finance Act, 1944 (which applies for purchase tax purposes enactments relating to Customs generally), shall not apply to this section.

21 Repayment of customs duty where goods returned or destroyed by importer

(1) Subject to such conditions as the Commissioners may prescribe for the protection of the revenue, where it is shown to the satisfaction of the Commissioners—

(a) that goods were imported into the United Kingdom in pursuance of a contract of sale, and that the description, quality, state or condition of the goods was not in accordance with the contract or that the goods were damaged in transit; and

(b) that the importer, with the consent of the seller, either—

(i) returned the goods unused to the seller and for that purpose entered the goods before shipment; or

(ii) destroyed the goods unused;

the importer shall be entitled to obtain from the Commissioners repayment of any duty of customs paid on the importation of the goods.

(2) Nothing in this section shall apply to goods imported on approval or on " sale or return " or other similar terms.