Auto Museum fined Tk13.17cr for importing Range Rover, BMW cars on false declaration
In its bill of entry, Ahamed Enterprise, its C % F agent, declared them as mild hybrid cars. The customs officials stopped their release from the port after they found the cars non-hybrid.
The Chittagong Custom House has fined Auto Museum, a Dhaka-based car importer, Tk13.17 crore for trying to evade duties while releasing two brand-new imported luxury cars from the port through false declaration.
Auto Museum imported a Range Rover and a BMW X7, both cars having nearly 3,000cc engine capacity, from Britain and America respectively.
In its bill of entry, Ahamed Enterprise, its C % F agent, declared them as mild hybrid cars. The customs officials stopped their release from the port after they found the cars non-hybrid.
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With this, the importer tried to dodge a total of Tk6,20,64,893 crore duties as the import duty of hybrid cars is almost half the duties of non-hybrid cars, according to the customs office.
For example, the duty on a 2,996cc hybrid car is 221% whereas the duty on a non-hybrid car with the same engine capacity is 430%.
The false declaration was found in the investigation of the National Board of Revenue's Central Intelligence Cell, Audit Investigation and Research Unit of the Chittagong Custom House.
On March 21, Commissioner of Chittagong Custom House Faizur Rahman imposed this penalty in two separate judgments.
The importer was fined Tk7.72 crore for the Range Rover car and Tk5.45 crore for the BMW car.
"The two cars imported by the importer Auto Museum are of non-hybrid category. There is no scope of releasing non-hybrid cars by showing them as hybrid ones. The company has been fined for making false declarations," Faizur told The Business Standard.
The Auto Museum is owned by Md Habib Ullah Dawn, president of the Bangladesh Reconditioned Vehicles Importers and Dealers Association (BARVIDA).
Dawn, however, denied the allegation, saying that customs officials are harassing car importers as many imported mild hybrid cars have been released earlier as hybrid cars.
"In the last four years, at least 400 cars have been released under the mild hybrids declaration. Such a sudden decision of customs is motivated and unethical."
"My imported cars are hybrid. The NBR has not yet made any SRO on hybrid imports. Customs authorities have stopped the release of the vehicles only for harassing us. I will take legal action against this decision," he said.
Citing the World Custom Organization's classification, Chittagong customs officials said there is no scope for providing customs benefits to mild hybrids as hybrid vehicles.
In a written reply to a show cause notice, the importer said all types of hybrid vehicles are supposed to get the same duty facility.
However, Chittagong customs officials said it is not correct because the duty rate depends mainly on the CC of the vehicle and the operation of the electric motor used in the vehicle.
The imported vehicles are undoubtedly non-hybrid cars as their electric motors are being used for propulsion, they explained.
Typically, a hybrid car has both a gas engine and an electric motor, whereas a gas-powered car only has a conventional gas engine. Hybrid cars produce fewer emissions compared to non-hybrid cars.
Auto Museum imported a 2023 model 2996cc Range Rover car from Britain, quoting its price at GBP1,05,030 on the invoice.
According to Glass's Guide, the taxable value of this car is Tk1.57,81,995. The importer tried to evade duty of Tk3,63,61,716 through false declaration.
The commissioner confiscated the consignment in favour of the state and imposed a total fine of Tk7.72 crore for it.
Similarly, Tk5.45 crore was fined for the BMW car with 2,998cc capacity for dodging Tk2,57,03,177 duty on Tk 1,11,55,892 taxable value of the car imported from the US.
