Dhaka: Around 200 luxurious cars were imported in the country in the last one year by evading tax.

‘We have information that about 200 cars were imported in the country illegally over the last one year,’ said Moinul Islam Khan, director general of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Department (CIID).

He also said they have already seized 33 of the illegally imported cars from different places of the country.

The imported cars are being used after taking registration from Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) through fraudulence.

‘We’re gathering information about the cars. The cars will be seized through launching similar drives in the earliest possible time,’ said the CIID director general.

He also informed that the cars had been imported in three ways: Firstly, foreign tourists bring cars to Bangladesh without paying taxes for a certain period using carnet, he said, adding that several cars were brought to the country from 2009-2012 using the facility.

But the cars were not taken back after the approved time limit, he said.

The 'Carnet de Passages' is an international customs facility which allows tourists to temporarily import their private vehicles without paying any duty for a limited period on condition of taking those back at the end of their stay.

The authorities have found that some unscrupulous car importers were using this facility just to import and sell those cars evading import taxes.

Secondly, some VIPs, including members of parliament, can import tax-free cars, but they have to fulfill some terms and conditions.

These privileges are also being misused as the terms and conditions are violated in some cases, said the CIID chief.

Thirdly, he went on saying, many people get their cars release from ports through false declaration which is another way of tax fraudulence.

Moinul Islam also noted that a good number of cars had been imported under tax-free facility from 2009-2012.

At present, there are 85 luxurious cars seized under Chittagong customs which were brought in the last four years.

He also said the authorities have closed the carnet facility in a bid to stop its misuse.

According to ‘Customs Convention on Temporary Importation of Private Road Vehicle of United Nations-1954’, there are 90 countries under the tax-free facility. The foreign tourists in Bangladesh got this facility till 2012. As there were huge irregularities, the authorities concerned abolished the system as per the order of the National Board of Revenue.

Custom sources said illegally imported cars managed to get their registration of the BRTA using fake documents.

Contacted, Shawkat Ali, secretary of the BRTA, said they could not recongnize fake papers of car owners while registering the cars as there is no scope for a discussion with the National Board of Revenue (NBR).

He added that they have decided to open a web portal to identify fake papers after a discussion with NBR. ‘When the web portal will be launched, the car owners will not get any scope for fake registration,’ he said.