20000214

SDMI payment:

customs agents;

suggestions

MUZAFFAR QURESHI

KARACHI: Customs Agents have suggested that the payment of

Sindh Development and Maintenance of Infrastructure, (SDMI) fee on imports by sea should be collected with the Customs duty instead of before payment of wharfage. This would not only result in swift clearance of imports but will also reduce the cost of collection incurred by the Sindh Excise and Taxation Department.

Nasim Yousuf, the General Secretary of the Karachi Customs Agents Group (KCAG), in a communication to the Secretary, Excise and Taxation Department of the Sindh Government, said that at present, the KPT accounts staff required customs agents to pay SDMI fee before payment of wharfage, due to which a full day was wasted in taking delivery of the goods although the importer had already paid the customs duty.

He said that if the agents proposal was accepted, the Excise and Taxation Department would save a lot of amount now being spent as administration cost and there would be no chance of any leakage of SDMI fee.

The procedure suggested by KCAG provides that after getting the Customs formalities completed, the clearing agent/importer will prepare the SDMI fee challan in quadruplicate and the challan will be submitted alongwith the bill of entry for payment at the same time when the customs duty and other taxes are going to be paid. The amount mentioned in the SDMI challan will be verified through a computer generated programme linked with the main frame of the Custom House. The computer system will allot challan No. which will be the same as cash No. of the bill of entry and will also print a separate statement sheet consisting of eight challans as is being done by the Custom House for the bills of entry.

The KCAG Secretary informed the Secretary, Excise and Taxation that the director of Excise during a visit to Customs House had expressed satisfaction over arrangements for collection of customs duty and other taxes and said that the department would not feel any hesitation in considering the proposals for collection of SDMI.

It may be pointed out that SDMI is charged on all imports through sea at the rate of 0.2 percent of the duty paid value of the goods. For the imports destined for up-country stations the rate of SDMI is 0.4 percent.