CO:R:C:V 545031 GG
Mr. John Heinrich
District Director
U.S. Customs Service
300 S. Ferry Street
Terminal Island, CA 90731
RE: Request for Internal Advice 32/92; apportionment of assists
Dear Mr. Heinrich:
This is in response to your memorandum, dated March 31,
1992, which forwarded to our office the internal advice request
referenced above. We regret the delay in responding.
The request was made on April 23, 1991, by the importer,
Tonka Corporation ("Tonka"). Tonka has since been acquired by
Hasbro, Inc. ("Hasbro"). Hasbro asks that we continue to process
the request. It is unclear whether Tonka has retained its name
since the merger; however, for purposes of this internal advice
request we will assume that it has.
FACTS:
Tonka, prior to its acquisition, was the third largest toy
importer in the United States. Tonka provided, and presumably
still provides, free of charge or at reduced cost, tools, dies
and molds to its overseas manufacturers of the toys it imports.
These items, or assists, are used in the production of the
imported merchandise. Tonka implies that they are used solely in
connection with the manufacture of toys exported to the United
States.
You state that the value of such assists was previously
apportioned over the number of articles produced with the
assists. The assist cost was added to the first entry of the
applicable merchandise. You do not elaborate on how Tonka
determined the number of articles it would produce with any
particular assist.
Tonka concurrently used the IRS Alternative Depreciation
System to apportion, for income tax purposes, the assists over
the allowable time period. (The Alternative Depreciation System
is used for any tangible property which during the taxable year
is used predominantly outside the United States.) This system
requires use of the straight line method of depreciation. The
allowable time period was the "class life" of three and one-half
(3 1/2) years. Additionally, a "half-year convention" was used
to determine the manner in which the apportionment would be made.
(A "half-year convention" means that only a half year of
depreciation {computed using straight line} is allowed during the
first tax year the goods are placed into service regardless of
when first placed into service during the year. This prevents
the obtaining of a full year's depreciation when placement was
made at the end of a tax year.) The class life, the convention,
and the depreciation method used were all in accordance with
generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP").
The IRS apportionments were as follows:
year #1 14.29%
year #2 28.57%
year #3 28.57%
year #4 28.57%
100.00%
Tonka in its internal advice request asks Customs to approve
its plan to apportion the value of tools, dies, and molds for
Customs purposes in the same manner in which it apportions the
assists for income tax purposes. You object to this because, in
your opinion, Tonka has failed to prove that such an
apportionment method would be reasonable and appropriate to the
circumstances. You base this on the fact that the toy industry
is volatile, and that toys on average are dropped after one year.
A review of the life-cycle of two hundred forty-four of Tonka's
toys, introduced over the last five years, shows an attrition
rate of approximately 70%, meaning that at the end of the first
year, 85% of the assist cost would remain uncaptured on 70% of
the toys to which such costs applied.
ISSUE:
Whether apportioning the value of assists according to a
depreciation schedule approved by the IRS for income tax purposes
is an acceptable apportionment method for Customs appraisement
purposes?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
For the purpose of this decision we assume that transaction
value is the proper basis of appraisement. Transaction value is
defined in Section 402(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended
by the Trade Agreements Act of 1979 (TAA; 19 U.S.C. 1401a(b)), as
the price actually paid or payable for merchandise when sold for
exportation to the United States, plus five enumerated statutory
additions, one of which is the value of assists.
Here, there is no dispute over the fact that the tools, dies
and molds provided by Tonka are assists; and it is conceded that
they are dutiable. The only question is whether Tonka's proposed
apportionment method is acceptable.
Customs has authority under Section 152.103(e)(1) of the
Customs Regulations (19 CFR 152.103(3)(1)) to accept or reject a
proposed apportionment method. See Headquarters Ruling Letter
(HRL) 544194, dated May 23, 1988. An apportionment method may be
accepted if it allows the apportionment of the value of assists
to be made in a reasonable manner appropriate to the
circumstances and in accordance with generally accounting
principles (GAAP). See Statement of Administrative Action (SAA);
19 CFR 152.103(3)(1). Customs can accept Tonka's apportionment
method only if it meets that standard.
Tonka's proposed apportionment method is not reasonable or
appropriate to the circumstances for the following reason. The
SAA, by providing that "once a value has been determined for [an
assist], it is necessary to apportion that value to the imported
merchandise", makes it clear that there must be a connection
between the apportionment method selected and the imported
articles. The SAA offers several suggestions for establishing
this link, such as apportioning the full value of the assist over
the first entry, or over the number of units produced up to the
time of the first shipment, or over the entire anticipated
production, in situations where all of the articles produced with
the assist will be imported. Tonka's proposed apportionment
method is unreasonable because it is based solely on the
estimated useful life of the assist. There is no link between
the proposed apportionment method and the imported merchandise.
The problem with the lack of connection between Tonka's
proposed apportionment method and its imported toys becomes
apparent when the fact that the class life of the molds usually
is longer than the demand for the toys is examined. Tonka's plan
to apportion the value of the assists over the longer 3 1/2 year
estimated useful life of the molds means that much of the value
of the assists will never be apportioned to the imported toys,
and therefore will not be dutiable. However, Congress, by
requiring the value of assists to be added to the price actually
paid or payable, intended the value of assists to be dutiable.
Thus, we do not allow apportionment of the entire value of an
assist over the first duty free entry of merchandise or on an
entry on which the importer intends to claim drawback. See HRL
542519, undated (TAA No. 35), and HRL 544194, dated May 23, 1988.
It follows, therefore, that a proposed apportionment method that
routinely allowed a portion of an assist's value to remain
nondutiable would not be acceptable to Customs. For this reason,
the use by Tonka of the IRS depreciation schedules to apportion
the value of the tools, dies and molds to the imported toys is
unreasonable and not appropriate to the circumstances. The fact
that the method is in accordance with GAAP is immaterial.
HOLDING:
Tonka's proposed apportionment method is unacceptable for
Customs appraisement purposes because duty would routinely only
be paid on a portion of the value of the tools, dies, and molds
used to produce the imported toys. As such, the method, although
approved by the IRS for income tax purposes and in accordance
with GAAP, is not reasonable.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have further
questions.
Sincerely,
John Durant
Director, Commercial