KARACHI: The Collectorate of Customs Adjudication-II has ordered M/s Pakistan Telecommunication Limited (PTCL) to deposit at least Rs 100 million for a case of evasion of taxes/duties in a contravention case detected by the Appraisement-East, it is learnt.
The Collector, Adjudication-II, Dr Saif-ud-Din Junejo issued these orders after conducting multiple hearings into the tax evasion case, sources told Customs Today.
While scrutinizing the import data, it was found that the PTCL mis-declared goods under PCT heading 8517.6970 in which it paid one percent customs duty, whereas the goods are correctly classifiable under PCT Heading 8517.6290 chargeable to customs duty at 20 percent. Thus, the PTCL — through mis-declaration of classification — has evaded customs duty, sales tax and income tax worth millions of rupees, sources added.
According to details, the Model Customs Collectorate-MCC Appraisement-East has constituted a massive tax evasion case against the PTCL, its contractor Huawei Technologies and its clearing agents Eastern Freight in which the authorities found that the PTCL was allegedly involved in import of telecommunication equipment including dense wave division, multiplexing system, 6000 cellular transmission system and cellular telephone system components network.
The respective Collectorate has forwarded the case to the Adjudication for further legal proceedings. The proceedings of the tax evasion case against the importer PTCL are continued and the authorities concerned of the Adjudicating Collectorate will decide the fate of the case in upcoming days.
Subsequently, the Collector of Customs Adjudication-II Dr Saifuddin Junejo summoned the departmental representative of PTCL to present his view point over the allegations leveled against the importer PTCL. It is pertinent to mention here that it was a sixth case of tax evasion unearthed against the importer PTCL, as three cases of the same nature have been adjudicated in the Collectorate of Customs Adjudication-I and two of the cases of the same nature have been adjudicated in the Collectorate of Customs Adjudication-II in the last one and an half years.
Accordingly, the importers Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited are directed to immediately deposit the aforesaid amount in the government treasury failing which action may be initiated against the respondents under Section 202 of the Customs Act, 1969 read with Chapter XI (Recovery Rules) of the Customs Rules, 2001 notified vide SRO NO.450(I)2001 dated June 18, 2001.
