The
National Board of Revenue has instructed its two field offices to avoid double
audit of the export-oriented industries, mainly readymade garment factories, to
reduce hassle of the exporters, officials said.
They
said that the revenue board has recently issued an order instructing the field
offices to maintain transparency in conducting audit of the export-oriented
industries.
Currently,
Customs Bond Commissionerate conducts annual audit of export-oriented
industries which enjoy duty-free import of raw materials under customs bonded
warehouse facility to ensure export of products manufactured by these raw
materials.
On
the other hand, Customs Valuation and Internal Audit Commissionerate conducts
annual comprehensive audit of the overall activities of the factories.
Exporters,
particularly members of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters
Association, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association and
other export-oriented sectors have been demanding for long to provide them with
exemption from double audit done by two separate commissionerates of the
revenue board.
Seeking
introduction of single audit system, BGMEA and BKMEA claimed that double audit
created several problems including preparation of extra documents for second
audit which was a gigantic task as it required huge paper work, and involvement
of manpower and valuable time, for them.
In
many cases, exporters have to face harassment by tax officials in the name of
audit.
In
this situation, the NBR has provided them with exemption from double auditing
to make export activities smoother and reduce hassle of businesses, officials
said.
The
revenue board has also formed a committee comprising officials from Customs
Bond Commissionerate and Customs Valuation and Internal Audit Commissionerate
to avoid duplication in audit, they said.
The
committee will provide report to the revenue board every month in this regard,
they said.
From
now on, Customs Valuation and Internal Audit Commissionerate will not conduct
audit of bonded warehouses.
NBR
member (customs, bond) Khandaker Aminur Rahman at a meeting with the leaders of
apparel sector last Sunday said that the revenue board instructed the officials
concerned to exclude those portions from auditing which have been audited by
bond commissionerate so that double auditing could be avoided.
‘Such
move will ensure more transparency in audit activities which will also remove
hassle for apparel sector,’ he said.
BGMEA officials, however, claimed that they were
still getting notices from Customs Valuation and Internal Audit Commissionerate
for providing documents for audit purpose. (Source: New Age, April 1, 2015)