Dhaka-Shanghai Ceramics faces tax evasion claim

Dhaka-Shanghai Ceramics, owned by Beximco Ltd, evaded about Tk 65 crore in value-added taxes and supplementary duties over two and a half years, according to the Customs, Excise and VAT Commissionerate in Dhaka.

The company, which makes tiles, evaded the taxes and duties by underreporting imported and purchased raw materials in its books between January 2013 and July 2015, Matiur Rahman, commissioner of the Customs, Excise and VAT Commissionerate in Dhaka, said at a press briefing yesterday.

An inspection team of the Dhaka commissionerate, while visiting the Dhaka-Shanghai Ceramics factory in Savar on November 25, found a hidden storeroom where the unregistered raw materials were kept, Rahman said.

The team found that Dhaka-Shanghai Ceramics dodged around Tk 35 crore in VAT and over Tk 30 crore in supplementary duty.

“We have asked the company officials to sit with us to settle the issue. But they did not respond,” Rahman said.

Now, the commissionerate will serve notice on the company seeking its response before filing a case, Rahman said.

After the procedure is complete, it will go on to claim the evaded tax and duties from the company.

The company is also facing another tax and duty evasion case that dates back to 2006-08, involving Tk 10 crore. The case is now pending with the High Court.

Dhaka-Shanghai Ceramics was founded by a group of BNP-linked politicians and businessmen after the BNP came to power in 2001. Mossadak Ali, an adviser to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, became the chairman of the company in 2004, according to his personal website. Later in 2009, Ali and others sold out the majority of their shares to Beximco Ltd.

Ahsan Imam, managing director of Dhaka-Shanghai Ceramics, declined to comment on the tax evasion allegation, but acknowledged that Beximco Ltd now owns the majority of the shares of Dhaka-Shanghai Ceramics.

The Daily Star also contacted Salman F Rahman, vice-chairman of Beximco Group, about the tax evasion claim. “I am yet to know about it,” he said.