Tk 790cr goods sold locally misusing bonded facility
Goods worth Tk 790 crore, which were imported under the duty-free bonded warehouse facility, were sold in the local market by more than 100 garments and accessories factories in Chattogram in the past five years.
The Customs Bond Commissionerate, Chattogram has filed about 300 departmental cases against the companies on charges of misusing the facility and dodging tax amounting to Tk 371.17 crore.
Export-oriented industries can import raw materials without paying tax under the bonded warehouse facility.
But some factories misuse the benefit by selling the imported items in the local market instead of using them to produce export-oriented finished products.
In fiscal 2018-19, the Commissionerate filed 40 cases against 30 companies for selling goods worth Tk 233.03 crore in the local market.
Goods worth Tk 168.88 crore were sold in fiscal 2017-18 and Tk 155.66 crore in 2016-17, customs bond officials found.
Of the cases filed in the last five years, 50 were disposed and Tk 40 crore was recovered, according to the Commissionerate. The rest 240 cases are pending with the Customs Appellate Tribunal and the High Court.
Most of the cases have not been settled as the importers resorted to courts, custom sources say.
Customs officials have prepared a list of more than 50 companies which frequently misuse the bonded warehouse facility in order to keep them under strong surveillance to avert such incidents, said Azizur Rahman, commissioner of the Commissionerate.
He said most of the cases could not be resolved quickly because of limitations in the law. In order to settle the cases quickly, the Customs Appellate Tribunal has taken initiatives to expedite the hearing of the cases.
He said the licences of five bonded warehouses have already been cancelled and those of another 28 have been postponed. Besides, more than 50 companies are under surveillance.
According to the cases lodged by the Commissionerate, Liberty Group, Golden Sun Ltd, Zeil Wears Ltd, Bengal Shoes Ltd, Daf Ctg Accessories Ltd, ATS Pearl Ltd, National Accessories Ltd, Digital Packaging and Accessories Ltd, and Ofma Camp Ltd top the list of those misusing the duty-free import facility.
In the last five years, Liberty Group sold goods worth Tk 136.06 crore in the domestic market dodging at least Tk 43.42 crore in taxes. Thirty-six cases were filed against six companies under the group.
Mohammad Ilias, chairman of Liberty Group, told The Daily Star, “Most of the cases lodged against our companies are baseless. We have already approached the Customs Appellate Tribunal and the High Court in this regard.”
At least 26 cases were filed against Golden Sun for selling goods amounting to Tk 74.37 crore in the local market.
Customs bond officials found evidence against Zeil Wears for selling goods worth Tk 18 crore in two years dodging tax of around Tk 13 crore.
Bulbul Barua, manager of Zeil Wears, said, “We kept these goods in an adjacent factory but we did not inform the authorities. We have applied to the bond commissioner to consider the matter.”
According to the bonded warehouse policy, there is no scope to keep goods in other’s factories, said an official.
The factory where Zeil Wears kept the goods was a shoe factory which manufactures shoes for the domestic market, said the official. Zeil Wears was found guilty of similar irregularities in 2017 and paid Tk 30 lakh in penalty, the official added.
In January 2018, a case was filed against Bengal Shoes for illegally selling raw materials worth Tk 24.40 crore, depriving the national coffer of Tk 13.82 crore in revenue.
Nasimul Haque Sumon, general manager of the company, confirmed filing of the case but declined to comment on it.
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