NBR to check revenue loss through under-invoicing

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Doulot Akter Mala The customs wing of the NBR is sitting with the commissioners of all customs houses (CH) today (Thursday) to fix strategies for checking revenue loss allegedly through under-invoicing during import of different products. The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has requested commissioners of all customs houses across the country to find out strategies to check revenue leakage through under invoicing. However, there is no specific data regarding the amount of revenue the government has to lose every year due to frequent under-invoicing by importers. Officials said they have found huge under invoicing on import of tyres. Customs houses found importing of each tyre at a cost of $16 from India, which is quoted at $4.0-5.0 from China. "We have found large-scale under-invoicing in import of different products, including luxury ones, like - refrigerators, cosmetics, new cars etc," said a senior customs official. Being concerned with the issue, the NBR chief has asked all the customs house commissioners to sit together for fixing strategies. The details of under-invoicing in different customs houses will be reviewed to find out products prone to such malpractice, he added. Earlier, the NBR unearthed large-scale under-invoicing in import of refrigerators. To check this, the customs wing instructed the NBR not to assess value of imported refrigerators, if their invoice shows value of each refrigerator is below US$ 1.0 to $1.50 per litre. Local industry owners said they are facing uneven competition and cannot sustain in the market, as some unscrupulous traders are importing products evading duty. Those traders can sell their products at prices much lower than those of the honest businesses.