Lemon imported into India falls under tariff item 2008 99 12. The standard rate of basic customs duty in the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 is 30%, and integrated tax is 5%. On the export side the same code earns RoDTEP at 1.3% of FOB value under Appendix 4R. Below is the whole bill worked at an assessable value of ₹10,00,000, with the base each levy is charged on.
| Level | Description |
|---|---|
| 20 | Chapter 20: Preparations of vegetables, fruit, nuts or other parts of plants |
| 2008 | Heading 2008: Fruit, nuts and other edible parts of plants, otherwise prepared or preserved |
| 2008 99 | Sub-heading 2008 99: Other |
| 2008 99 12 | Lemon. Unit: kg.. Import policy: Free |
Heading 2008 holds 22 tariff items in this dataset and their standard rates run from 30% to 45%, so on this heading the eight digit line a consignment is classified under decides what it costs. This line sits at 30%.
Put your own assessable value in and the whole stack re-works on this line's own rates: basic customs duty at 30%, the Social Welfare Surcharge charged on that duty rather than on the value, and integrated tax at 5% on the value plus both. Assessable value is cost, insurance and freight plus landing charges where they apply, not the invoice value on its own.
| Rate | Levy | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 30% | Basic customs duty, of the assessable value | ₹3,00,000 |
| 10% | Social Welfare Surcharge, of the basic customs duty | ₹30,000 |
| 5% | IGST, of value plus the duties above | ₹66,500 |
| 39.65% | Total duty and tax, as a share of the assessable value | ₹3,96,500 |
The same eight digit code decides what an exporter earns. Appendix 4R to the Handbook of Procedures gives tariff item 2008 99 12 a RoDTEP rate of 1.3% of FOB value, notified by Notification 32/2024-25 and in force from 10 October 2024. Appendix 4R is the schedule for exports from the Domestic Tariff Area.
An exporter under an Advance Authorisation, an Export Oriented Unit or a unit in a Special Economic Zone reads Appendix 4RE instead, which puts this line at 0.8%. Which schedule applies is a fact about the exporter, not about the goods, so this page does not choose between them.
Notification 74/2025-26 ran the scheme to 30 September 2026, which has passed, so check DGFT for a continuation notification before relying on the figure above. Rates come from Appendix 4R and Appendix 4RE as DGFT publishes them. Work the entitlement on your own FOB value and quantity.
Where a trade agreement covers this line, the preferential rate replaces the basic customs duty rate, and it pulls the surcharge and the integrated tax down with it. At 0% for Least Developed Countries, the whole bill on ₹10,00,000 falls from ₹3,96,500 to ₹50,000.
A preference is never automatic. It applies against a valid certificate of origin, and the Customs (Administration of Rules of Origin under Trade Agreements) Rules, 2020 put the burden of proving origin on the importer. These are the 2025 schedule.
| Code | Description | Duty | IGST | Export rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 11 00 | Ground-nuts | 30% | 5% | 1.3% |
| 2008 19 10 | Cashew nut, roasted, salted or roasted and salted | 45% | 5% | 1.3% |
| 2008 20 00 | Pineapples | 30% | 5% | 1.3% |
| 2008 30 10 | Orange | 30% | 5% | 1.3% |
| 2008 30 90 | Other | 30% | 5% | 1.3% |
| 2008 40 00 | Pears | 30% | 5% | 1.3% |
| 2008 50 00 | Apricots | 30% | 5% | 1.3% |
| 2008 60 00 | Cherries | 30% | 5% | 1.3% |
| 2008 70 00 | Peaches, including nectarines | 30% | 5% | 1.3% |
| 2008 80 00 | Strawberries | 30% | 5% | 1.3% |
| 2008 91 00 | Palm hearts | 30% | 5% | 1.3% |
| 2008 97 00 | Mixtures | 30% | 5% | 1.3% |
| 2008 99 11 | Mango | 30% | 5% | 1.3% |
| 2008 99 13 | Orange | 30% | 5% | 1.3% |
| 2008 99 14 | Pineapple | 30% | 5% | 1.3% |
| 2008 99 19 | Other | 30% | 5% | 1.3% |
| 2008 99 91 | Fruit cocktail | 30% | 5% | 1.3% |
| 2008 99 92 | Grapes | 30% | 5% | 1.3% |
| 2008 99 93 | Apples | 30% | 5% | 1.3% |
| 2008 99 94 | Guava | 30% | 5% | 1.3% |
| 2008 99 99 | Other | 30% | 5% | 1.3% |
Bring in ₹10,00,000 of lemon and customs will ask for ₹3,96,500, which is 39.65% of what the consignment is assessed at. That is not one charge. It is four, and each is charged on a base that includes the ones before it.
Of the ₹3,96,500 above, exactly ₹3,00,000 can be paid with a RoDTEP or RoSCTL duty-credit scrip instead of cash, because Regulation 6(1) of the Electronic Duty Credit Ledger Regulations, 2021 confines the credit in an e-scrip to duties of customs specified in the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975. The remaining ₹96,500 is paid in cash.
A scrip bought below face value therefore saves that discount on ₹3,00,000, not on ₹3,96,500. How the buy side works, or read what a duty-credit scrip is end to end.
The First Schedule states the duty on this line as "30%". Integrated tax is carried under CBIC notification 009/2025. How the figures in this chapter are checked, and when they were last checked is in the meta line at the top of this page.
This is the tariff arithmetic on a published rate, not an assessment. Goods are assessed by the proper officer under section 17 of the Customs Act, 1962, and valuation, exemption notifications, anti-dumping and safeguard duties can all change what is finally payable. A wrong tariff line makes every number on this page wrong together, so this is not classification advice.
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