Saleh Noman
The largest revenue collection center in the country, Chattogram Customs House has set target to collect Tk 63,162 crore (Tk 631.6 billion) in the current fiscal year 2019-20. The target is about 40 percent higher than the revenue collected in the last fiscal year. In FY2018-2019, Chattogram Customs House collected Tk 43,577 crore against its target of TK 54,332 crore.
Customs officials said that although a 5 percent growth was achieved in FY2018-19 on a year-on-year basis, the revenue collection feel around Tk 14,000 crore short of the target set for the fiscal. In FY2017-18, Tk 42,344 crore was collected against the target of Tk 44,677 crore. They however expressed optimism that they would be able to reach the goal in the ongoing fiscal.
For the last several years, the average annual growth of revenue collection from import and export items through Chattogram Port has been around 10-12 percent, Fakrul Alam, commissioner of Chattogram Custom House, said, adding, “We will take several steps to achieve the target in current fiscal.” “Till now, the trend of revenue collection has been very positive, if we compare it to that in the last fiscal year. It appears that the steps we have taken to accelerate revenue collection are proving effective,” he observed.
Customs house source said, the first 18 days of the current fiscal year, from the July 1 to July 18, a total revenue Tk 1,977 crore. On the other hand, the revenue collection was Tk 1,456 crore in the same period of the last fiscal year. Fakrul Alam went on to say, “We are increasing surveillance on consignments of importers and clearing and forwarding agents who have a history of dodging tax and on products which are likely to be falsely declared in tax evasion attempts.”
“Chattogram Customs House has been working with less manpower but import-export is increasing every year. The National Board of Revenue has been requested to recruit skilled and trained officers here,” he added. Mentionable, Chattogram Customs House collects around 28-30 percent of country’s total revenue. Earnings of the house totally depends on the volume of imports through Chattogram port.
In FY2018-19, the Chattogram Port handled 29,19,023 containers in the form of a 20 feet long (TEUs). About four percent of the growth was achieved in comparison to that of the previous year.