Commercial arrangements covering the sale and importation of goods are many and varied, with a lot of importers these days buying under ‘delivery duty paid’ (DDP) terms. The contract of sale will generally set out the responsibilities of each party to the commercial transaction, and usually identifies the person who is responsible for paying duties and taxes. This is done through the use of the relevant ‘Incoterm.’
From the perspective of the Customs Act however, the responsibility of making an import declaration and payment of duty, rests with the ‘owner’ as defined in  Section 4 of the Act which says:
“Owner ” in respect of goods includes any person (other than an officer of Customs) being or holding himself or herself out to be the owner, importer, exporter, consignee, agent, or person possessed of, or beneficially interested in, or having any control of, or power of disposition over the goods.
This operates to make the liability effectively joint and several. In other words, one of the persons mentioned in the definition has to comply with the requirement to pay the duty and, once that payment of duty is made, no other party is liable. That is the case regardless of the commercial arrangements.
When the responsible person doesn’t pay, the DIBP is obliged to pursue the debt. This can include issuing a demand for duty on a party that may not be identified under the commercial contract as the person responsible for paying the duty, including cases where a party cannot be made to pay because they are located overseas or are insolvent. Failure by a party to pay relevant duties and taxes may be a breach of a commercial contract, and it is possible to take out insurance to cover such damages.
The relevant DIBP notice is No. 2016/12, about DDP shipments and liability for duty.
