Editorial Desk :
A media report has said import duty evasion dropped as fines doubled. It proves really rewarding to bring down the number of false import declarations and under invoicing of price which were used for duty dodging over the past years. The National Board of Revenue (NBR) amended the Customs Act of 1999 in 2020 providing for almost double the fine of tax dodged. We would say it has been a time-befitting reform in the Customs Act and needs effective application to stop wrong declaration and under invoicing. It appears that doubling of fines has increased compliance among the traders to declare the real product name and its price which were earlier the biggest tricks applied to evade duty. Previously traders resorted to bribing customs and tax officials to release goods from the port through wrong declaration to enormously benefit from shady deals. The NBR has slowly improved the situation and the amended law has evidently reduced the malpractice.
Data shows the Chittagong Custom House (CHC) generated 23.23 per cent higher revenue in fiscal 2020-21 which is Tk 51,577 crore as against Tk 41,854 crore a year earlier. In June 2020 when the NBR amended the law and fixed the fine that is twice the amount of duty dodged, the situation has improved if the malpractice has not altogether stopped. The penalty could be as high as four times the amount
owed in many cases depending on the extent of the irregularities. Earlier, customs officials would use arbitrary power depending on bribes and the state would lose revenue.
The report said the Audit, Investigation and Research section of the Chittagong Customs House collected Tk 42.95 crore in penalties in 2019-20 and this increased to Tk 81.83 crore in the last fiscal year while the number of cases declined 31 percent. Between July 2015 and December 2019, some 6,110 consignments were found to have been misquoted. NBR collected Tk 655 crore in evaded tax during the period while importers were slapped a fine of Tk 260 crore for resorting to irregularities, which was 36 per cent of the undeclared revenue. It appears vigilance on malpractice has increased but misuse of political power by big business houses is still prevalent. We would say NBR has taken a good step which needs to be consolidated.
