MTD swings into action against under-taxing vehicle import scam
View(s):An under-taxing scam involving import of super luxury vehicles by a cartel of car importers working hand-in- glove with some officials of the Department of Motor Traffic (MTD) and Sri Lanka Customs has been bared.
An internal audit query sent to the MTD on a tip off revealed that several super luxury vehicles had been cleared by the customs during the period of
2013 -2014 (tenure of the former regime) by paying taxes stipulated for urea fertilizer, or canned fish, sewing machine spare parts or, water pumps instead of the duty imposed on super luxury vehicles, government source said.
Internal auditors have found that the Customs had levied import taxes which were far less than the duty imposed on super luxury vehicles following strict scrutiny of documents and relevant files at the MTD.
The audit query revealed the registration numbers and the manner of under-taxing when clearing eight super luxury vehicles including Mercedes Benz, Toyota Prado, Montero and Hummer jeeps.
When perusing Custom clearance documents in vehicle registration files at the MTD, the auditors have found that custom officers have levied the taxes fixed for urea fertilizer, or canned fish, sewing machine spare parts or, water pumps on those vehicles but not the actual duty stipulated for super luxury vehicles, MTD sources revealed.
The case has been handed over to the CID recently, an MTD official said.
According to these details, a new Toyota land Cruiser Prado Jeep has been registered at the RMV under the file CBLRI 19952 paying customs duty equivalent to a stock of urea fertilizer.
A Mercedes Benz car has been registered under the file CBLR 19935 and its payment for customs duty was equivalent to some chemicals.
According to file CBLR 930 of a Mercedes Benz registration the custom duty fixed for the importation of canned fish and some food items had been levied during the clearance.
Customs duty was paid for a MRQUIS water pump when clearing a super Mercedes Benz which was registered under the file CBLRI 10726 at the MTD.
Another Mercedes Benz had been registered and the customs documents in the file number CBLR 19979 showed the duty paid during the clearance was equivalent to a stock of motor car spare parts.
A Toyota Montero jeep has been registered at the RMV and it was cleared paying customs duty of sewing machine spare parts under the file CBLRI 9953.
As there are illicit ‘ways and means’ to register vehicles, people tend to import vehicles and evade customs duty. Since the MTD is a den of corruption and registers these illegal vehicles, the annual loss to the Customs Department is over Rs.10 billion, Finance Ministry officials alleged.