Pakistan Customs makes seizures of Rs10.36bn in 2 ½ months

Pakistan Customs makes seizures of Rs10.36bn in 2 ½ months

KARACHI: Pakistan Customs has accelerated operation against smuggling and non-duty paid items and made seizure of goods and vehicles valuing Rs10.36 billion during two and a half months of the current fiscal year.

The seizure during the current period of the current fiscal year is 91.4 percent higher than the seizure of Rs5.41 billion made in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.

This was disclosed by chief collector of customs enforcement-south at a press conference here on Friday.

The chief collector south said that the customs seized goods worth Rs36.57 billion in fiscal year 2019/2020 as against the seizure of Rs25.39 billion in the preceding fiscal year, showing an increase of 44 percent.

He said that the collectorate south contributed the anti-smuggling and action against non-duty paid items to the tune of Rs1.18 billion during the period of July 01 to September 15, 2020 as compared with Rs958 million in the same period of the last fiscal year, showing an increase of 23 percent.

Whereas, the value of seizures of South in fiscal year 2019/2020 was amounted to Rs12.25 billion as against seizures of Rs2.74 billion in the preceding fiscal year, registering an increase of 347 percent.

Smuggled vehicles involving value of Rs539 million were seized in the fiscal year 2019/2020 as against Rs358 million in the preceding fiscal year.

The major seized items including vehicles, electronics, cigarettes, cloth, diesel, mobile phones, currency, betel nuts, gutka etc.

The collector said that Pakistan Customs collected customs duty to the tune of Rs624.65 billion in 2019/2020, which was 99 percent of the assigned target by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for the fiscal year.

Furthermore, the collection of customs duty was at Rs92 billion during July – August 2020 as against the assigned target of Rs87 billion.

The collection of all taxes at import stage was amounted at Rs1,710 billion in fiscal year 2019/2020 which was 0.3 percent less than the preceding fiscal year.

Total tax collection of all taxes during July 01 to September 15, 2020 was at Rs347 billion, which is 1.39 percent more than the tax collected in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.

During July – August 2020, the customs formation south collected customs duty amounting Rs76.38 billion against the target of Rs74 billion and against collection of Rs83.69 billion in 2019, the collector added.