KARACHI: The Directorate of Customs Intelligence Karachi has seized telecommunication equipment and accessories including energy storage units etc. imported by a mobile company. Name of the company has been kept secret as yet.
Details revealed that seized goods were being cleared mis-declaring the PCT and concealing the actual value from Appraisement-West Collectorate Karachi Port.
Director Customs Intelligence Muhammad Asif Marghoob Siddiqui in response to a question said that three seized containers were taken into custody by Customs Intelligence Karachi on April 21 which were being cleared through green channel under self-assessment scheme.
He further told that the value of the seized goods in Customs clearance documents was declared as Rs 21 million against payment of duties and taxes amounting to Rs 0.9 million.
When imported goods and related documents were minutely scrutinized by Customs officials it came to light that the actual value of the seized goods was Rs 91 million with leviable duties and taxes as Rs 40.38 million, Director I&I Karachi added further.
The importer and clearing staff were unable to provide any plausible explanation for not paying the actual leviable duties and taxes, when confronted by the senior officers of Customs Intelligence.
Accordingly the goods were seized for violation of different Sections of Customs Act, 1969, Sales Tax Act, 1990 and Income Tax Ordinance 2001 and were given in the custody of the Port Terminal Operator.
A formal seizure as per requirement of law has been forwarded to concerned Adjudicating authority, so that short paid duties and taxes are deposited into government treasury.
Director Customs Intelligence told Customs Today during telephonic conversation that the subject seizure has been made and added that this is the second seizure of such nature during the last 10 days.
In earlier seizure telecommunication equipments worth more than 70 million were seized. He informed that during last one year Customs Intelligence Karachi has detected many cases of evasion of duty and taxes worth billions of rupees in the import of national and international mobile companies operating in Pakistan.
He further emphasized that previous such imports of mobile companies need to be examined in order to ensure due duties and taxes have been paid and for this purpose Customs Intelligence has initiated exercise in the interest of government revenue.
