NBR hunts for 5 big car importers, begins probe
Monday, 23 June 2008
The Central Intelligence Cell (CIC) of National Board of Revenue (NBR) is investigating five big vehicles importers to unearth a possible scam over a sudden influx of imported vehicles at Chittagong Seaport, reports UNB.
An NBR official familiar with the investigation said that of the five importers three are based in Chittagong while two others in Dhaka.
"We are now investigating from two aspects--- one from income tax and another from customs duty," the CIC official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation process.
The NBR has launched the investigation to find out whether there was any import of brand new cars through Chittagong seaport undercover of reconditioned vehicles just before the national budget.
In the proposed budget, the government has reduced supplementary duties from 60 per cent to 20 per cent on import of ordinary non-luxurious microbuses within the displacement capacity from 1500 to 1800 CC, which are used for transportation of industrial raw materials and passengers.
According to the sources, a special ship, "MV Lilac Ace", from Japan, carrying 1,988 vehicles, mostly cars and microbuses worth around Tk 200 crore, arrived at Chittagong seaport just before the announcement of the new budget.
The CIC team has already collected necessary papers of the selected importers, the official said, adding that the officials are doing their homework before going for a detailed inquiry.
The CIC official said that from income tax aspect they would examine details of the importers' income tax payment and their total capital.
"For example, if we see that their total capital is Tk 1 crore, but they imported vehicles worth Tk 10 crore it means they have not declared their total money in the income tax documents," he said.
An NBR official familiar with the investigation said that of the five importers three are based in Chittagong while two others in Dhaka.
"We are now investigating from two aspects--- one from income tax and another from customs duty," the CIC official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation process.
The NBR has launched the investigation to find out whether there was any import of brand new cars through Chittagong seaport undercover of reconditioned vehicles just before the national budget.
In the proposed budget, the government has reduced supplementary duties from 60 per cent to 20 per cent on import of ordinary non-luxurious microbuses within the displacement capacity from 1500 to 1800 CC, which are used for transportation of industrial raw materials and passengers.
According to the sources, a special ship, "MV Lilac Ace", from Japan, carrying 1,988 vehicles, mostly cars and microbuses worth around Tk 200 crore, arrived at Chittagong seaport just before the announcement of the new budget.
The CIC team has already collected necessary papers of the selected importers, the official said, adding that the officials are doing their homework before going for a detailed inquiry.
The CIC official said that from income tax aspect they would examine details of the importers' income tax payment and their total capital.
"For example, if we see that their total capital is Tk 1 crore, but they imported vehicles worth Tk 10 crore it means they have not declared their total money in the income tax documents," he said.