Tax Dodging in Alcohol Imports
HC asks govt to investigate
The High Court yesterday ordered the government to investigate within 15 days into allegations of foreign alcoholic drinks worth crores of taka being imported and sold without the tax being paid to the country.
A Bangla daily reported on December 21, 2011 that the government is losing crores of taka in taxes as thousands of litres of alcoholic drinks are being imported by showing a higher number of listed foreigners in Bangladesh each year.
In response to a writ petition, the court ordered the authorities to submit the investigation report to it in two months.
The government will gain around Tk 200 crore as revenue every year if the taxes are properly paid, said Manzill Murshid, counsel for the petitioner.
The HC directed the finance secretary and National Board of Revenue (NBR) chairman to form a committee to investigate into the allegations.
This committee will comprise the additional secretary of the finance ministry, an NBR member, a high official from the commerce and law ministries and an intelligence official from the customs.
The HC also ordered the NBR chairman to list the privileged persons (foreigners entitled to import alcoholic drinks) and submit it to the court within two months.
It ordered the finance secretary to list the prices of alcoholic drinks imported under the Diplomatic Bonded Warehouse from 2008 to 2011 and submit it to the court within one month.
The finance minister was directed to list the people employed at the warehouse from 2008 to 2011 and submit it to the court within a month.
The HC bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury Manik and Justice Jahangir Hossain Selim also issued a rule upon the government to explain in three weeks why it should not be directed to properly execute relevant laws to stop such tax dodging.
Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh yesterday filed the writ petition.
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