Importers had declared the shipment as containing used vehicle parts — headlights, used doors, suspension shock absorbers, tail lights, air cleaner boxes, rubber channels, steering wheels. Instead of these used parts, the shipment turned out to contain luxury BMW, Lexus, Range Rover and Toyota vehicles. The four luxury vehicles had been imported split into several sections (CKD) and declared as used vehicle parts.
The vehicles, imported by evading customs duty, were seized in an intelligence operation by the Directorate of Customs Intelligence and Investigation. Each vehicle is valued at more than 10 million taka. The incident occurred at Mongla port.
The information was disclosed today in a press release by the National Board of Revenue (NBR). The duty evasion involving the four luxury vehicles in a single imported shipment was uncovered through 100 percent physical inspection, technical assistance from BRTA and KUET experts, and the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
An NBR official said the vehicles’ assessable value would be determined and duty imposed accordingly, after which legal action would be taken against the importer.
Models and prices
NBR said the four vehicles were a Range Rover Vogue, a BMW 650i, a Lexus LX570 and a Toyota Crown Athlete. The combined estimated market value of the vehicles ranges from roughly 45 million to 67 million taka.
According to the Directorate of Customs Intelligence and Investigation’s findings, the UK-made Range Rover Vogue is a 2017 model, with an estimated market value in Bangladesh of 16 million to 18.5 million taka.
The Japan-made Lexus LX570 has an estimated market value of 20 million to 35 million taka, and is a 2016 model.
The German-made BMW 650i is a 2010 model, valued at 6 million to 9 million taka in Bangladesh. The Toyota Crown Athlete, made in Japan, is valued at 3 million to 4 million taka.
How it was caught
Acting on intelligence information received in July, the Khulna regional office of the Directorate of Customs Intelligence and Investigation suspended the shipment of the four vehicles.
A 100 percent physical inspection of the shipment was completed on July 19. The vehicles were identified with technical assistance from a BRTA and KUET expert team, analysis of stickers, labels, marks and numbers affixed or engraved at various points on the goods, and the use of AI.
The investigation found that the shipment had been declared as containing common used-vehicle parts, such as headlights, used doors, suspension shock absorbers, tail lights, air cleaner boxes, rubber channels and steering wheels.
But instead of being fully disassembled into ordinary spare parts, the entire vehicles had been cut into just three or four large sections and imported in a semi-knocked-down (CKD) state. The declared assessable value was shown as just around 993,547 taka.
While the incident is being treated as a major attempted tax and duty evasion, NBR said the final amount of revenue evaded would be determined only after proper assessment is completed. The regional office of the Directorate of Customs Intelligence and Investigation will recommend legal action to the Mongla Custom House once its final investigation is complete.
Various duties and taxes apply to vehicle imports, including import duty, regulatory duty, advance tax, VAT and supplementary duty. However, expensive vehicles with larger engine capacities attract higher supplementary duty, ranging from 30 to 500 percent depending on engine size. Importers use various tactics to evade this duty.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report