THE ISSUE OF INTRODUCING A COMPENSATORY INTEREST PAYMENT MECHANISM FOR THE REFUND OF OVERPAID OR COLLECTED CUSTOMS PAYMENTS

The article examines the current legal mechanism in the Republic of Uzbekistan for refunding overpaid or excessively collected customs payments and the issue arising from the absence of interest on refunded amounts. The temporary deprivation of an entrepreneur’s use of funds due to a customs authority’s error, unjustified additional assessment, or a subsequently revoked decision is assessed from the perspective of the time value of money. A comparative analysis of the practices of the United States, the Republic of Korea, Canada and the European Union is conducted, and a differentiated compensatory interest mechanism is proposed for Uzbekistan. In particular, the article substantiates charging compensatory interest from the date of payment or collection where the overpayment resulted from the fault of the customs authority, and, in other cases, for the period of delay in executing a refund decision, with the daily rate linked to 1/300 of the Central Bank refinancing rate.