The National Board of Revenue on Sunday decided to seek opinion from the law ministry on applications made by a section of reconditioned car importers requesting the revenue board for allowing 45 per cent depreciation for around 3,500 cars, imported before June, which were supposed to get 35 per cent depreciation, officials of the NBR said.The NBR made the decision on the day in a meeting with the importers and leaders of the importers’ association on the issues, they said.
The cars imported before June but remained unreleased at the country’s two sea ports — Mongla and Chittagong — were supposed to get 35 per cent depreciation under the law.
But the importers are seeking 45 per cent depreciation benefits adopted in June in the budget for the current financial year 2013–2014.
‘The NBR on Sunday decided to seek opinion from the law ministry on whether the importers can get such depreciation facility or are there any legal complexities in providing such privileges,’ an NBR official told New Age.
The NBR sent a summery to the finance ministry for forwarding to the law ministry, he said.
The NBR officials said finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith asked them to settle the issue hurriedly though the officials did not see any scope to provide the advantage to the importers under the purview of the existing Customs Act.
They said the NBR could not provide 45 per cent depreciation which was adopted in the current FY for the cars imported in the previous FY.
According to the rules, valuation in calculating customs duty is done on the basis of the submission date of bill of entry and the importers had submitted the bills of entry for those cars before June. So the NBR will have to calculate depreciation at 35 per cent.
On the other hand, if the NBR provide 45 per cent depreciation for those 3,500 cars through amending statutory regulatory order or issuing new SRO, it may face legal action from the importers who have already released their imported cars by paying duty under previous valuation system getting 35 per cent depreciation.
According to the NBR, after the introduction of 35 per cent depreciation in the FY10, more than one lakh cars have been released by importers by taking 35 per cent depreciation.
‘What will happen if they demand the 10 per cent depreciation benefits for their vehicles released before June?’ he questioned.
If the NBR allows 45 per cent depreciation for the cars which are entitled to get 35 per cent depreciation, the government may lose more than Tk 100 crore in revenues, the official said.
On the other hand, the NBR might have to pay back around Tk 1,000 crore to the importers who released their cars with 35 per cent depreciation, he said.
According to the NBR, of the cars, around 3,000 are remained stuck at the Mongla port and around 500 at the Chittagong port.
Abdul Haque, managing director of Haq’s Bay Automobiles Ltd and a director of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, also applied for the benefit for his around 1,000 old cars. A number of other importers also applied for the facility.
NBR chairman Ghulam Hussain presided the meeting while Bangladesh Reconditioned Vehicles Importers and Dealers Association president Habibullah Don, Abdul Haque and NBR officials attended the meeting.
-With New Age input
