KARACHI: The Directorate General of Internal Audit-Customs, while continuing its efforts to unearth leaking revenue, has established more audit paras amounting to Rs 20 million in clearance of steel billets and sent a report to the relevant Collectorates, it is learnt here on Tuesday.
The Directorate General of Internal Audit-Customs, while following the directives of Director General (DG) Internal Audit-Customs Rubina Wasti, has already sent Rs 15 million of audit paras to the MCC-Appraisement (East) and worth Rs 5 million audit paras to the MCC-Port Muhammad Bin Qasim in the previous month, founding violation of SRO421 (I)/2014 pertaining to the import of steel billets.
In the recent development, the sources informed Customs Today that the authorities concerned of Internal Audit-Customs sent more audit paras amounting to Rs 20 million to the MCC-Appraisement (East), MCC-Appraisement (West) and MCC-Appraisement Port Muhammad Bin Qasim in clearance of steel billets during the period from July, 2012 to December,2014.
The sources further informed that the authorities concerned of both the Collectorates i.e. MCC-Appraisement (East) and MCC-Port Muhammad Bin Qasim while agreeing upon the audit paras sent by the Directorate General of Internal Audit-Customs have already started recovery from the importers while issuing demand notices in order to ensure revenue recovery in the import of the steel billets consignments.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Directorate General of Internal Audit-Customs has sent audit paras to the MCC-Appraisement (East) and MCC-Port Muhammad Bin Qasim and MCC-Appraisement (West) pointed out a short recovery amounting of Rs20 million altogether in clearance of steel billets under SRO421/2014.
The Directorate of Internal Audit-Customs in its audit paras from July-December-2014 observed that the importers had misused the SRO421 of the Sales Tax Act, 1990 in the clearance of steel billets. It observed that the sales tax value for the clearance of steel billets consignments at US $ 550 per Kg. However, the consignments had been cleared at the sales tax rate of US$485 per Kg.
