NBR to take action against PSI co for wrong price certification
Tuesday, 14 August 2007
Doulot Akter Mala
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) is contemplating serving showcause notice to pre-shipment inspection (PSI) Company M/S Cotecna Inspection SA for assisting the importer in under-invoicing the value of the luxurious vehicle Hummer-3.
In an investigation, the board found wrong price certification in clean report of findings (CRF). The PSI company has quoted US$ 18,500 instead of $35,215 as original price of the Hummer 3.
It has also violated inspection act, 2002 as it did not submit the 'manufacturers' certificate on price', which is mandatory for issuing CRF certificate, the investigation report said.
The investigation team, in its report, suggested taking legal action against the PSI company under the customs act, 1969 and section 32, considering it as a serious crime.
The board might serve the notice by this week seeking clarification on matter by 15 days. The board might cancel the PSI company's operating licence or charge penalty.
After scrutinising all information and records, the probe body confirmed that the concerned importer-- Auto Museum -- has quoted low price in an intention to evade import duty.
The investigation team, after scrutinising all records, found that the cost and freight (C&F) price of Hummer-3 should be $35,215.
The probe body also suggested the Chittagong Customs House for taking legal action against the importer for duty evasion and realising the outstanding duties from the importer of the car.
Receiving an allegation about the car brought through under-invoicing, the probe body also sought the opinions of importer of the car and the concerned PSI Company.
The PSI Company said it has properly certified the price according to valuation agreement.
In a hearing, Dermot A Jenning, the representative of the PSI Company, said it had quoted the price on basis of agreement between importers and exporters.
The PSI company regretted that it would be more cautious in future about price certification.
In June, the government launched an investigation into alleged evasion of duty on import of luxury vehicles by some traders.
A five-member team of the government has started the probe into the alleged cases of duty evasion by the car importers.
The probe body includes representatives of the National Board of Revenue (NBR), the joint forces and the Inland Container Depot (ICD). It submitted an investigation report recently on duty evasion of a Hummer 3 car.
The team found that the importers of the car evaded customs duty to the tune of Tk 1.8 million each on import of eight Hummer (H-3) luxury vehicles, sources said.
The duty is currently about 200 per cent on import of this type of car.
Pre-Shipment Inspection (PSI) companies quoted the price of those cars at US$ 17,000 each, while the actual price is more than $ 30,000 each, sources added.
They have found some importers bringing in the expensive and luxury cars showing much lower prices than those at the manufacturers' level.
The investigating team has collected necessary information from the embassies and manufacturers to verify the allegation.
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) is contemplating serving showcause notice to pre-shipment inspection (PSI) Company M/S Cotecna Inspection SA for assisting the importer in under-invoicing the value of the luxurious vehicle Hummer-3.
In an investigation, the board found wrong price certification in clean report of findings (CRF). The PSI company has quoted US$ 18,500 instead of $35,215 as original price of the Hummer 3.
It has also violated inspection act, 2002 as it did not submit the 'manufacturers' certificate on price', which is mandatory for issuing CRF certificate, the investigation report said.
The investigation team, in its report, suggested taking legal action against the PSI company under the customs act, 1969 and section 32, considering it as a serious crime.
The board might serve the notice by this week seeking clarification on matter by 15 days. The board might cancel the PSI company's operating licence or charge penalty.
After scrutinising all information and records, the probe body confirmed that the concerned importer-- Auto Museum -- has quoted low price in an intention to evade import duty.
The investigation team, after scrutinising all records, found that the cost and freight (C&F) price of Hummer-3 should be $35,215.
The probe body also suggested the Chittagong Customs House for taking legal action against the importer for duty evasion and realising the outstanding duties from the importer of the car.
Receiving an allegation about the car brought through under-invoicing, the probe body also sought the opinions of importer of the car and the concerned PSI Company.
The PSI Company said it has properly certified the price according to valuation agreement.
In a hearing, Dermot A Jenning, the representative of the PSI Company, said it had quoted the price on basis of agreement between importers and exporters.
The PSI company regretted that it would be more cautious in future about price certification.
In June, the government launched an investigation into alleged evasion of duty on import of luxury vehicles by some traders.
A five-member team of the government has started the probe into the alleged cases of duty evasion by the car importers.
The probe body includes representatives of the National Board of Revenue (NBR), the joint forces and the Inland Container Depot (ICD). It submitted an investigation report recently on duty evasion of a Hummer 3 car.
The team found that the importers of the car evaded customs duty to the tune of Tk 1.8 million each on import of eight Hummer (H-3) luxury vehicles, sources said.
The duty is currently about 200 per cent on import of this type of car.
Pre-Shipment Inspection (PSI) companies quoted the price of those cars at US$ 17,000 each, while the actual price is more than $ 30,000 each, sources added.
They have found some importers bringing in the expensive and luxury cars showing much lower prices than those at the manufacturers' level.
The investigating team has collected necessary information from the embassies and manufacturers to verify the allegation.