Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated Acts(1) If any dispute arises as to the amount or rate of duty payable in respect of any goods, or as to the liability of any goods to duty, under any Customs Tariff, or under any Customs Tariff or Customs Tariff alteration proposed in the Parliament (not being duty imposed under the Customs Tariff (Anti - Dumping) Act 1975 ), the owner of the goods may pay under protest the sum demanded by the Collector as the duty payable in respect of the goods, and thereupon the sum so paid shall, as against the owner of the goods, be deemed to be the proper duty payable in respect of the goods, unless the contrary is determined in an action brought in pursuance of this section.
(2) The owner may, within the times limited in this section, bring an action against the Collector, in any Commonwealth or State Court of competent jurisdiction, for the recovery of the whole or any part of the sum so paid.
(3) For the purposes of this section, a payment is taken to be made under protest if, and only if:
(a) the owner of the goods or the agent of the owner gives the Collector notice in accordance with subsection (3A), by document or electronically, that the payment is made under protest; and
(b) the Collector receives the notice no later than 7 days after the day the payment is made.
(3A) A notice given by an owner or agent under subsection (3) must:
(a) contain the words paid under protest ; and
(b) identify the import declaration that covers the goods to which the protest relates; and
(c) if the protest does not relate to all the goods covered by the import declaration--describe the goods to which the protest relates; and
(d) include a statement of the grounds on which the protest is made; and
(e) be signed by the owner or the agent of the owner.
(4) No action shall lie for the recovery of any sum paid to the Commonwealth as the duty payable in respect of any goods, unless the payment is made under protest in pursuance of this section and the action is commenced within the following times:
(a) In case the sum is paid as the duty payable under any Customs Tariff, within 6 months after the date of the payment; or
(b) In case the sum is paid as the duty payable under a Customs Tariff or Customs Tariff alteration proposed in the Parliament, within 6 months after the Act, by which the Customs Tariff or Customs Tariff alteration proposed in the Parliament is made law, is assented to.
(5) Nothing in this section shall affect any rights or powers under section 163.
(6) In this section:
"import declaration" includes an import entry, within the meaning of the unamended Customs Act, that was made under that Act.
"unamended Customs Act" has the meaning given by section 4 of the Customs Legislation Amendment (Application of International Trade Modernisation and Other Measures) Act 2004 .