MORE than a hundred bank documents were forged by at least 20 importers to evade tax, causing a loss of over Tk 50 crore to the state exchequer. This has been unearthed by officials of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate and the Chittagong Customs House. The importers tampered with Letters of Credit (LCs) and changed the names, quantities and prices of goods to dodge tax, said several officials at the Directorate that launched a probe into the matter in November last year, as per a report of a local daily.
Assistant Commissioner of the Directorate Tareque Mahmood said in the report that they found out at least 20 firms had doctored about a hundred bank documents to evade tax in recent times. And the amount of dodged tax was more than Tk 50 crore. On information, Directorate officials seized a consignment of Bangladesh Science House (BSH), a company based in the capital’s Mohakhali, in mid-December last year. The BSH imported a reconditioned Toyota car from a Japanese company, Rama DBK Limited. The LC issued by the First Security Islami Bank Limited (FSIBL) against the consignment showed the invoice value at $47,400 (around Tk 39 lakh).
According to the tariff rules, the tax on import of such vehicles is 366.06 percent. This means the total tax against the invoice value was Tk 1.43 crore. But a tampered LC was submitted to the customs authorities, lowering the invoice value to $27,400 (about Tk 22.75 lakh). This helped the company dodge tax of around Tk 60 lakh by paying Tk 83 lakh in tax. Directorate officials filed a case with the customs house against the importer and the C&F agents on December 3. The case is yet to be disposed of.
The assessment value of imported goods is determined through documents issued by the banks concerned, and Clearing and Forwarding (C&F) agents are responsible for releasing goods from the customs. With the help of a section of C&F agents, the importers altered the prices and descriptions of the goods in the documents to lower the assessment value, said some officials at the customs house. As per the Customs Act 1969, the authorities can confiscate goods and cancel the licences of the importers and the C&F agents involved in such forgery. However, this Act is hardly enforced as the authorities only put forward monetary fines.
When corruption is the way of the government, tax-dodging is inevitable. Besides, people do not pay tax for maintaining an elephantine government, but for services. The people are not getting services for which they pay taxes.
Assistant Commissioner of the Directorate Tareque Mahmood said in the report that they found out at least 20 firms had doctored about a hundred bank documents to evade tax in recent times. And the amount of dodged tax was more than Tk 50 crore. On information, Directorate officials seized a consignment of Bangladesh Science House (BSH), a company based in the capital’s Mohakhali, in mid-December last year. The BSH imported a reconditioned Toyota car from a Japanese company, Rama DBK Limited. The LC issued by the First Security Islami Bank Limited (FSIBL) against the consignment showed the invoice value at $47,400 (around Tk 39 lakh).
According to the tariff rules, the tax on import of such vehicles is 366.06 percent. This means the total tax against the invoice value was Tk 1.43 crore. But a tampered LC was submitted to the customs authorities, lowering the invoice value to $27,400 (about Tk 22.75 lakh). This helped the company dodge tax of around Tk 60 lakh by paying Tk 83 lakh in tax. Directorate officials filed a case with the customs house against the importer and the C&F agents on December 3. The case is yet to be disposed of.
The assessment value of imported goods is determined through documents issued by the banks concerned, and Clearing and Forwarding (C&F) agents are responsible for releasing goods from the customs. With the help of a section of C&F agents, the importers altered the prices and descriptions of the goods in the documents to lower the assessment value, said some officials at the customs house. As per the Customs Act 1969, the authorities can confiscate goods and cancel the licences of the importers and the C&F agents involved in such forgery. However, this Act is hardly enforced as the authorities only put forward monetary fines.
When corruption is the way of the government, tax-dodging is inevitable. Besides, people do not pay tax for maintaining an elephantine government, but for services. The people are not getting services for which they pay taxes.
