Under-invoicing unearthed in vegetable oil import

Customs detects Rs275 million worth of duty and tax evasions

KARACHI:

The Customs Intelligence Karachi has unearthed massive under-invoicing in vegetable oil imports while continuing its crackdown on under-invoicing under the direction of Director General Faiz Ahmed Chadhar.

The Additional Director Customs Intelligence Karachi Inam Wazir told The Express Tribune that they had received information about under-invoicing in the imports of vegetable oil and its products from Indonesia.

He explained that whenever the price of a product on an invoice is lower than the price paid, this is referred to as “under invoicing. It generally occurs when an importer or exporter wants to minimize a tariff, or when a buyer or seller wishes to reduce their earnings in order to pay fewer taxes.

Subsequently, Wazir said, Directorate of Customs Intelligence reviewed the prices of the products shown in the import documents for the clearance of consignments by the importers with the price data of the concerned association and the exporting country.

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The review revealed that vegetable oil and its products from Indonesia are being under invoiced on fake invoices of low price.

Wazir said that the importer had evaded Rs275 million of duty and tax through under-invoicing by entering four similar goods declarations in the Customs Appraisal West Collectorate.

He said that the importer Food Links International has obtained clearance of the products on fake invoices of low value of Rs56 million, while the actual price of these products is more than Rs82 million.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 27^th, 2023.