Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate has uncovered a duty evasion of nearly Tk13 crore by garment manufacturing and exporting company Williams Sweaters.
Rizvi Ahmed, additional director general of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate, disclosed details of the duty evasion on behalf of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) at a press conference held at the Revenue Building in Agargaon in the capital on Sunday.
Rizvi Ahmed said Williams Sweaters has been operating since 2014 and that the directorate is investigating its overall activities. He added that initial investigations revealed information regarding duty evasion of nearly Tk13 crore.
Investigations revealed no evidence that Williams Sweaters complied with the conditions under which capital machinery had been imported.
The company imported a total of 525 machines under the facility, paying zero or 1 per cent customs duty despite an applicable duty rate of 20 to 25 per cent on those imports. Consequently, the company evaded Tk11.56 crore in customs duty in this sector.
Additionally, Williams Sweaters evaded Tk1.34 crore in duty under bonded warehouse and Free of Cost (FOC) facilities.
The company imported a total of 37.08 metric tonnes of raw materials from China and India through three bills of entry, which carried an assessable value of approximately Tk2.03 crore and an assessed duty and tax of nearly Tk1.34 crore.
There are allegations against the company that it sold the imported raw materials in the local market instead of using them for designated production and export activities.
Rizvi Ahmed noted on behalf of the NBR that on-site investigations revealed several major inconsistencies, including the absence of the bond register at the inspection site, failure to supply import-export information, and ambiguity regarding the actual location and use of the imported raw materials.
