NBR forced to waive duty on car imports
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has withdrawn a provision that barred lawmakers elected in the last two years of parliament from getting tax waiver on car imports.
Following repeated requests by the parliamentary secretariat, the revenue authority removed the provision on Monday, only four months before the tenure of the present government expires, said an NBR official, seeking anonymity.
More than five newly-elected lawmakers are now allowed to import cars without paying customs duty and VAT (value-added tax). These lawmakers also include those who were declared elected by the court in the last year of parliament.
Among the beneficiaries of the ninth parliament are Rejwan Ahmed Toufiq elected from Kishoreganj-4 in July, Simeen Hussain Rimi elected from Gazipur in September last year and Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Jabed elected from Chittagong-12 in January this year.
Toufiq is the eldest son of President Abdul Hamid, Rimi is the daughter of Bangladesh’s first prime minister Tajuddin Ahmad and Jabed is a son of former lawmaker late Akhtaruzzaman Chowdhury Babu.
The NBR official said taxmen had initially suggested that the authority should refrain from taking such a step as it might spark criticism.
Later, it had to withdraw the bar on instructions of the finance ministry, he added.
Some 315 incumbent lawmakers have imported duty-free cars, depriving the state exchequer of more than Tk 1,000 crore in taxes, Finance Minister AMA Muhith earlier said in a parliament session.
During the BNP-led eighth parliament, 275 lawmakers imported luxury vehicles without paying Tk 280 crore in taxes.
The duty and VAT free car import was first offered to lawmakers in 1988 by the then autocrat HM Ershad. Since then, elected governments kept the privilege despite criticism.
The provision was cancelled during the Fakhruddin-led caretaker administration but the Awami League-led government restored it.
Source: The Daily Star