Most customs houses fail to achieve revenue collection target

Golam Mostafa Jibon:Most of the customs houses in the country could not achieve the revenue collection target. On the contrary, the shortage of these customs houses is increasing day by day.
In the first six months of the current financial year, the total deficit of five out of six customs houses stood at Tk 11,800 crore.
ICD Kamalapur is the only exception. At that time, ICD’s revenue collection was Tk 194 crore more than the target. In Chattogram, the country’s main customs house, the target deficit stands at around Tk 9,000 crore, those information were known from the National Board of Revenue (NBR).
According to the concerned sources, the revenue collection is declining. In the same vein, revenue collection is not increasing much in other sectors except income tax. Customs houses are having an impact on revenue collection mainly due to zero duty and exemption. As a result, most of the custom houses have failed to achieve the targets in the first six months of the current 2019-20 fiscal year.
According to sources, Kamalapur ICD’s target for revenue collection was Tk 1,321 crore. But, 1,515 crore has been recovered. In other words, Tk 194 crore more than the target has been collected in the first six months of the current financial year. But, the revenue collection target of the country’s main customs house in Chattogram was Tk 30,476 crore in the first six months of the fiscal year July-December. But, Tk 21,328 crore has been recovered. In other words, the target deficit of Chattogram Customs stood at Tk 9,149 crore in six months.
Benapole Customs is next in terms of deficit. At that time, the target of Benapole Customs was Tk 2,912 crore. However, Tk 1,546 crore has been recovered. In other words, the amount of deficit in six months stood at Tk 1,384 crore.
Mongla, another customs house in the country, is in deficit in revenue collection. At the time of the Mongla Custom House, the target was Tk 2,376 crore. Tk 1,782 crore has been collected. In other words, the target deficit stands at Tk 593 crore. The target at Dhaka Customs was Tk 2,575 crore. But, Tk 2,218 crore has been recovered. In other words, the target deficit in the first six months of the current financial year stood at Tk 357 crore. The target of Pangaon Customs House from July 19 to December 19 near the capital was Tk 756 crore. Tk 420 crore has been recovered. That means the deficit has stood at Tk 335 crore in six months.
Economists said, recession of import is the main reason behind the declining in revenue collection from customs houses. Besides, the revenue of the custom houses is also declining due to the exemption. NBR member Syed Mohammad Ghulam Kibria said, “The main reason behind the declining in revenue collection at the Customs House was the declining in imports. For the industrialization of the country, some concessions were given at the import stage. For example, those, who are involved in producing motorcycles and cars in the country, were given some benefits earlier. Good revenue used to come from this sector. But now, that is not happening like previous period. All in all, the global economy is in a slump, which has affected imports. However, monitoring of customs houses has been intensified. So that, none can evade revenue in case of import.”