The Model Customs Collectorate of Appraisement and Facilitation, West, has surpassed the customs revenue target of June by a wide margin amid sluggish business activities owing to the coronavirus.
Irfan Ali, spokesman for the customs, said on Tuesday that the Model Customs Collectorate of Appraisement and Facilitation-West collected Rs15.5 billon as customs duty during the month of June against the target of Rs12.87 billion, thereby exceeding the target by 20 per cent.
The collectorate collected Rs28.5 billion as overall revenue during June. The collection of revenue through administrative measures like proper valuation, post release audits, auction of long-pending goods at ports, recovery of arrears, finalisation of provisional assessments, and pursuing clearance of overstayed goods from bonded warehouses constitutes a big chunk of the imports-related revenue.
Around Rs3 billion were collected through administrative measures in June. Collector Jamil Nasir lauded the efforts of officers and officials of the collectorate who worked as frontline workers during the coronavirus epidemic and ensured speedy clearance of the import cargo.
While talking to the officers in a meeting held on the eve of 30th June for reviewing revenue performance, Nasir said that we should be cognizant of the fact that every member of the collectorate, irrespective of his position in the administrative hierarchy, from the sepoy to the collector, played an important role towards revenue collection during crazy times of COVID-19. The guidance and direction provided by Madam Suraiya Ahmed Butt in particular helped a lot in achieving the customs duty target of June, he emphasised.
The officials who attended the meeting made a resolve to continue the momentum in the new financial year by maximizing efforts to collect due revenue through a four-pronged strategy having effective monitoring to control misdeclarations, facilitation of trade through reduction in the clearance time, an open-door policy and effective grievance redressal, and strict adherence to the principles of transparency and merit in decision-making as its important planks. The collectors called upon the members of his team to remain accessible to the importers and their representatives for prompt resolution of problems and take decisions strictly on merit without any fear or favour.
The Collectorate of Appraisement West is an important contributor of imports-related revenue to the FBR. During the final year 2019-20, this collectorate made an overall contribution of Rs235 billion to the national kitty out of which the share of customs duty was Rs99 billion.
Airport revenue
The Pakistan Model Customs Collectorate at Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, also surpassed the assigned target of collecting the customs duty.
Irfan Ali a spokesman for the customs, said that the Model Customs Collectorate collected Rs2,658.02 million in custom duty during the month of June this year against the assigned target of Rs1,693.02 million, thereby exceeding the target by Rs965 million, which 57 per cent higher than the target.
It collected Rs21,175.31 million of customs duty during the financial year 2019-20 as compared to the given target of Rs20,488.69 million, i.e. an increase of 23.16 per cent as compared to the last financial year.
A total amount of duty and taxes amounting to Rs51.4 billion was collected during current financial year 2019-20 as compared to Rs44.8 billion collected during last financial year 2018-19. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in a lockdown and suspension of flight operations, the revenue target was achieved by taking administrative measures such as post release audit, correct valuation, finalisation of provisional assessment and automation in assessment of mobile phones.