Tk 30.0m tax evasion unearthed against import of 6 luxury cars

FE Team | Published: October 09, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

Shakhawat Hossain
A National Board of Revenue (NBR) investigation has unearthed tax evasion of about Tk 30.0 million against import of six luxury cars by an auto dealer in collaboration with a pre shipment inspection (PSI) company, sources said.
According to the probe report, the value of five Hummer-3 vehicles each of 3,500 cc and one Hummer-2 of 6,200 cc declared to the customs by the auto importer last year was almost half the actual price.
Terming the entire process as a gross violation of the existing custom rules and regulations, the probe report blamed the Swiss-origin PSI company-Cotecna- for certifying the false valuation of the vehicles contrary to the PSI rules 2002, sources added.
The report was submitted to the NBR chairman Monday with the recommendation to realise penalties both from the auto dealer and the PSI company.
It also suggested cancellation of the government contract with the Cotecna that was earlier charged with duty evasion of Tk 2.36 million in connection with importing one Hummer vehicle.
The clean report of findings (CRF) certified by Cotecna on six Hummer vehicles did not reflect the actual price as the value of each Hummer-3 vehicle was shown $18,500 instead of their actual unit price of $35,215.
The certified value of the Hummer-3 vehicle was $31,000 but the probe committee found the actual value to be $62,895 instead.
Duty incidence of vehicles above 3,000 cc is 194 per cent that included customs and supplementary duties, value added tax, advance income tax and infrastructure development surcharge, said NBR officials.
They said total duty evaded in the process of undervaluation of six vehicles by the PSI company would be not less Tk 30 million.
The five-member committee, headed by Khairuzzaman Mozumder, a first secretary of the revenue board, searched the website of General Motors, US, the manufacturing company of Hummer to probe the list price of the vehicles.
It also compared the CRFs of two other PSI companies to know the actual value of the vehicles and establish the under-invoicing by the importer in connivance with Cotecna.
Cotecna was appointed in August 2005 for certifying prices and ensuring the quality and quantity of imported items from 23 East Asian and the Pacific countries including China, Korea, Japan, Philippines and Australia.
The contract expires 2008.