Custom officials taking bribes in the name of identifying tax evasion in the clearance of imported goods and they also get incentives as rewards for this reason, which is causing harassment and sufferings to the traders.
There is no precedent in the developed world for paying officials extra money to uncover tax evasion. If such incentives are given, the officials tend to create more trouble for getting more money. It increases the harassment of traders.
Md. Jashim Uddin, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) told Bangladesh Pratidin, incentives after identifying tax evasion for the customs officials should be cancelled. The current law provides incentives to officials who can collect more revenue. Due to this there is unequal competition among the officials, the victims of which are the businessmen.
“This incentive system is unreasonable and unfair. A country's revenue administration cannot run like this. If businessmen are harassed, the economy will be in jeopardy. The country will fall behind,” he added.
Mahbubul Alam, president of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) told Bangladesh Pratidin, now the world is at hand. It’s easy to know the price of any product. But customs officials are harassing traders in the name of uncovering tax evasion without proper verification.
“As a result, the traders are facing suffering while redeeming the goods. The only reason for this is that the customs officials are desperate to get incentives in the name of rewards. It must be cancelled,” he said.
“We have a lot of information that customs officials are intentionally harassing traders. Traders want freedom from this injustice and harassment of customs. Taking incentive money in the name of reward is completely unfair,” Mahbubul Alam added.
Syed Nazrul Islam, First Vice President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) said export growth is being hampered by existing complications related to the garment industry in customs and bonds.
“Recently, BGMEA has raised various types of harassment charges against Chattogram Customs and customs bond officials, including extra money,” he said.
BGMEA claimed some officials of Chattogram Custom House are collecting extra money by unnecessarily harassing various issues including HS code in clearance of imported goods of garment industry. As a result, product release is delayed. At the same time, the export of goods is also being hampered.
@The article was published on print and online versions of Bangladesh Pratidin on September 12, 2022 and has been rewritten in English by Tanvir Raihan.
