OUR CORRESPONDENT
CHATTOGRAM, Dec 27: Thirty duty-free luxury vehicles imported by members of the 12th Jatiya Sangsad during Sheikh Hasina government's last tenure were handed over to the government transport pool under the Vehicle Directorate of the Ministry of Public Administration yesterday (Friday).
Sharif Al Amin, assistant commissioner of Chattogram Custom House (CCH) said, "Officials from the Ministry of Public Administration and the transport pool authorities arrived to receive the vehicles. After the required maintenance, the cars were delivered."
Although the cars were imported without paying customs duty and taxes, the handover is being carried out under specific conditions to avoid future legal and administrative complications.
The decision followed an inter-ministerial meeting that recommended transferring the vehicles to the government transport pool.
The Finance Division later approved the recommendation. According to official documents, the Vehicle Directorate will bear the port storage and transportation costs from the 2025-26 fiscal year budget.
The interim government had decided in September to place 31 luxury vehicles imported under the duty-free facility of 31 MPs into the transport pool after they failed to attract expected bids at auction.
As there was no previous precedent of the government taking over MPs' imported vehicles in this manner, the issue initially became complicated, prompting the formation of a committee comprising officials from the Vehicle Directorate, Customs and the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA).
Earlier, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) made it clear that once parliament is dissolved, former MPs are no longer eligible for the duty-free car import facility. As a result, importers would have to pay applicable duties and taxes to clear the vehicles.
According to the NBR, the total duty and tax amount on the 31 vehicles stands at Tk2.6962 billion (Tk269.62 crore). Duties and taxes for each vehicle were assessed between Tk 86.2 million (Tk8.62 crore) and Tk 94.4 million (Tk9.44 crore).
As the applicable duties and taxes were not paid, the vehicles were sent for auction under Section 94(3) of the Customs Act, 2023. However, the auctions failed to draw the expected prices.
On 12 November, the NBR issued a special order allowing the vehicles, valued at Tk2.6962 billion (Tk269.62 crore), to be transferred to the transport pool on a conditional basis.
The order states that if the importers concerned choose to pay the applicable duties and taxes in the future, the vehicles may be released in their favour in accordance with the law. In that case, the Vehicle Directorate will return the cars to the customs authorities.
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