Drawback, in law in commerce, paying back a duty previously paid on exporting excisable articles or on re-exporting foreign goods. The object of a drawback is to let commodities which are subject to taxation be exported and sold in a foreign country on the same terms as goods from countries where they are untaxed. It differs from a bounty in that a bounty lets commodities be sold abroad at less than their cost price; it may occur, however, under certain conditions that giving a drawback has an effect equivalent to that of a bounty, as in the case of the so-called sugar bounties in Germany (see sugar). The earlier tariffs contained elaborate tables of the drawbacks allowed on exporting or re-exporting commodities, but so far as the United Kingdom is concerned (as of 1911) the system of bonded warehouses practically abolished drawbacks, as commodities can be warehoused (placed in bond) until needed for exportation.
In the United States, drawback is a U.S. law that allows exporters to recover duty paid for importations provided that the product is subsequently exported. It is considered a Customs privileged program. It is a cumbersome, time staking process that requires proof of exportation, and an impeccable audit trail to the original importation. Further, a Foreign-Trade Zone may be used to either expedite or avoid the drawback process. A Foreign-Trade Zone Admission in Zone Restricted status is considered the legal equivalent to an exportation in the eyes of the U.S. Customs & Border Protection.
Under Indian Customs Act, various schemes like EOU, SEZ, Advance Authorisation, manufacture under bond etc, are available to obtain inputs without payment of customs duty/excise duty or obtain refund of duty paid on inputs. In case of Central Excise, manufacturers can avail Cenvat credit of duty paid on inputs and service tax paid on input services. They can utilize the same for payment of duty on other goods sold in India or service tax on services provided in India, or can obtain refund. Schemes like manufacture under bond are also available for customs. Manufacturers or processors who are unable to avail any of these schemes can avail ‘duty drawback’. Here, the excise duty and customs duty paid on inputs and service tax paid on input services is given back to the exporter of finished product by way of ‘duty drawback’.