Import revenue grows in Oct

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Doulot Akter Mala
Revenue from import duty grew in October after a declining trend in the first quarter (July-Sept) of the current fiscal thanks to
increased car import and waning global recession.
Commodity prices in the international market have been increasing with the recovery of financial meltdown that contributed to the increased earnings, officials said.
Growth of import revenue was 2.0 per cent more in October '09 compared to the corresponding month last year. During July-September period revenue earnings from customs duty was 3.0 per cent negative.
The revenue board has received Tk 68 billion import revenue until October against Tk 67.28 billion during the same period last year.
Customs officials said tax hike on import of cars and luxury products and imposition of regulatory duty (RD) on finished goods will help the customs department achieve its target in the current fiscal.
The government has revised the duty structure of cars, upward in the current fiscal. The tax hike was about 16 per cent for cars upto 1500 cc and nearly 200 per cent for luxury cars.
"A minor increase on the quantity of cars leaves a major impact on the revenue collection. Customs department will receive 16 per cent higher duty from each car up to 1500 cc," said a senior customs official.
"We saw a sudden increase in import of cars up to 1500 cc in October which is one of the major reasons of positive growth after three months of the current fiscal," he said.
There are a total of 7500 cars now waiting in the Chittagong port for clearance that would generate Tk 6.50 billion revenue, he added.
Abdul Huq, a leading car importer and former president of Bangladesh Reconditioned Vehicle Importers and Dealers' Association (BARVIDA) said: "Usually import of cars increases in the fag end of every fiscal as models of car change every year."
Import of car increased recently for this reason, he said.
Customs officials said the revenue board also expects a big chunk of import revenue from the newly imposed RD duty on thousands of finished products.
"We are hopeful about achieving the target of Tk 232.36 billion set for the current fiscal. The NBR expects to recover around Tk 30 billion in the current fiscal by resolving cases," said a senior revenue board official.
Chittagong customs house that contributes a major portion of import revenue has achieved 7.75 growth in October which helped the customs department to mark a positive growth, he said.
Also, the CCH has taken a move to resolve 3101 writ cases in the attorney general office to realise blocked tax, he said.
The government has decided to classify 9000 cases on 'cause of action' to resolve those within a short time, he said.
There are a total of 12,000 cases filed by different businessmen and importers against customs department blocking billions of taka in revenue for long, the official said.
"The NBR has taken a move to set up two dedicated benches by January to settle 600 cases on fast track," he said.
The NBR has categorised the 600 cases that involved a big chunk of revenue totalling nearly Tk 6.50 billion, he said.
"We will resolve those cases on fast-track basis to recover the stuck up revenues within a short time," he added.