3,500 Used Cars
Government issues SRO giving undue tax benefit
The government, retreating from its previous stance, on Wednesday allowed 45 per cent depreciation benefit instead of 35 per cent for around 3,500 reconditioned cars imported before June, bowing down to pressures from the importers, officials of the National Board of Revenue said.
The Internal Resources Division of the finance ministry on the day issued a statutory regulatory order providing this special duty benefit with an effect from November 18, they said.
Earlier on September 2, the NBR rejected a plea of no less than 30 importers for allowing 45 per cent depreciation benefit for the cars which are, according to Customs Act-1969, are supposed to get 35 per cent depreciation facility.
Officials said that the NBR had been trying to provide such duty benefit to the importers since they applied for the facility after the revenue board increased depreciation to 45 per cent in the budget for the current fiscal year.
Before the current fiscal year, depreciation benefit for the five-year old reconditioned cars was 35 per cent.
But the revenue board had rejected the appeals from the importers as there was no scope in the customs act to provide such benefit as the cars were imported before June 2013 and the importers had already submitted bills of entry for the cars, they said.
The cars are now remained unreleased at the Chittagong and Mongla ports following recommendations by the NBR.
The NBR in its recommendations had said that the facility could be provided on the ground of public interest and it mentioned the issue as a special case though those cars were commercially imported, NBR officials said.
They said the NBR and the finance minister were under huge pressure from the traders to provide them the facility.
The importers had claimed that they would incur huge loses if the NBR do not provide the facility.
They have not released the cars for the last one year saying that the release of the cars at the existing rate of depreciation would not be viable in terms of business.
According to an NBR’s estimate, the NBR may lose a handful amount of revenue because of providing 45 per cent depreciation for the cars, of which, around 3,000 remained stuck at the Mongla port and around 500 at the Chittagong port.
-With New Age input
