Special Correspondent :
Revenues collected by the Chittagong Customs House (CCH) hit all-time high in the immediate past fiscal thanks to a stable business climate prevailing in the country.
The house mobilized Tk 36,709 crore revenues in the fiscal 2016-17 ended on June 30 this year, an increase by 17.5 per cent from the previous fiscal’s collection.
Earlier, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) fixed Tk 36,705 crore revenue collection target for the CCH.
The house is mainly responsible for collection of all duties and taxes. It is also responsible for the trade (import-export) facilitation, enforcement of government regulations, and works with the NBR to formulate policy concerning to customs, duties, taxes and charges and administrative issues.
“Revenues collected by the CCH reached record high in the past fiscal surpassing the target by over Tk 5,000 crore,” a high official of the Customs House told The New Nation on Thursday.
According to him, CCH earned Tk16,848 crore revenues after handling import consignments of the largest 100 government and private firms.
“They contributed to 46 per cent of CCH’s total revenue income,” he added.
The official further said the CCH earned Tk 14,000 crore import duty from petroleum products in the past fiscal.
“A congenial business climate helped the CCH authorities earn such big revenue in the fiscal 2016-17. It will be able to beat current fiscal’s revenue collection target if the prevailing business climate exists throughout this year,” he noted.
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) fixed Tk 48,008 crore revenue collection target for the CCH for the current fiscal.
A total of 1,043,000 consignments, to the tune of Tk32,000 crore, were delivered through Chittagong Port in the fiscal year 2016-17.
Some 20,000 government and private enterprises import goods through Chittagong Port every year.
CCH collected Tk 31,200 crore revenues in the fiscal 2015-16, recording a 14.8 per cent year-on-year growth.
