The revenue authority has eased the provision of physical inspection for export consignments until June 2018 to clear a backlog of 2,300 applications submitted mainly by jute and leather exporters for duty drawback of raw materials.
In an order, the National Board of Revenue recently said the applications for duty draw back could be settled upon confirmation of exports based on documents such as proceed realisation certificates and without physical inspection report.
“We welcome the step. This will be helpful for us to get duty drawback,” said Md Shaheen Ahamed, chairman of Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA).
Revenue officials and exporters said the move would be beneficial for exporters who have been waiting for several years to get refund of duty and taxes which they have to pay for import of raw materials to process goods for exports in absence of duty free import benefit given under bonded warehouse scheme.
Ahamed said the issue had been pending since November last year. He said they did not get duty drawback in the last one year because of the rule of submission of inspection report online by customs officials for export consignments. Customs officials and exporters said the problem of settling applications for duty refund began after the NBR in March 2011 slapped the rule of giving entry of physical inspection report of export consignments in the information box of the computerised customs management system, Asycuda World, to generate inspection report.
As the Asycuda World System is yet to come about in all customs houses and customs stations, all the customs offices are not submitting physical inspection reports, officially known as inspection act, creating difficulty for the exporters to get refund of duty from the Duty Exemption and Drawback Office (DEDO) under the NBR.
And a large number of applications for duty drawback by jute goods, leather and ceramic exporters got stuck in absence of the physical inspection report in the Asycuda World System, said officials.
The number of applications rose to 4,000 at one time and it began to decline after the revenue authority relaxed rules of physical inspection for jute goods exporters until June 2016, according to officials.
On September 27, the NBR extended the deadline for issuing refund for jute and jute goods until June 30, 2018 without physical inspection.
“This will facilitate quick disposal of applications allowing exporters to get refund of their capital,” said DEDO Director General Wahida Rahman Chowdhury.
Officials said exporters, who do not get duty free import benefit of raw materials under bonded warehouse benefits, import raw materials by paying duty on the items to make exportable products.
And they apply to DEDO for refund of the paid duties and taxes after shipment. Based on the applications and documents submitted by exporters, the field office under the NBR refunds the duties through banks, according to officials.
The DEDO gave drawback of Tk 146 crore in 2016-17. The refund amount was Tk 98 crore in 2015-16, according to Chowdhury.
Source: The Daily Star
