bdnews24.com :
Benpole Land Port’s revenue has fallen short of target by about Tk 1.20 billion in the just-concluded fiscal.
Tk 24.80 billion has been collected against a target of Tk 26 billion set by the National Board of Revenue for the 2013-14 fiscal, said Golam Kibria, an official at Benapole Customs.
Businessmen attributed the shortfall to corruption, harassment, theft, high taxation, an unwritten embargo on raw products including fruits, and a growing tax evasion.
Revenue officials, however, are reluctant to concede most of these causes.
Political instability, agitation in India, labour unrest, and rise in the smuggling of imported products were mainly responsible for the missed target, said Customs Joint Commissioner Faizur Rahman.
Irregularities and corruption have been rampant in the country’s largest land port since the beginning of the last fiscal, said Nasir Uddin, secretary (customs), at the Benapole Customs Clearing and Forwarding (C&F) Agents’ Association.
A strong syndicate was active at the facility, he said.
The members of this cartel are allegedly evading duty worth millions of Taka on imported products by paying huge bribes, Nasir said.
Businessmen and port and customs officials were making quick money through malpractices, depriving the government of huge sums in revenue each year, the leader of the C&F Agents Association told bdnews24.com.
Many importers were shifting to other ports because of rampant theft at Benapole. The port authorities were unable to prevent the pilferage, said Benapole Customs C&F Agents’ Association’s Joint General Secretary Jamal Hossain.
Heavy-duty goods were not being imported through this port because of a set of new rules introduced by tax officials, said Benapole Customs C&F Agents’ Association’s President Mofizur Rahman Sajan.
These products were making their way in through illegal channels but the authorities balked at taking effective measures, he said.
