DRI tightens checks at Customs

The Department of Revenue Investi-gation (DRI) is tightening checks on goods at customs offices in a bid to curb tax evasion.

Apart form checking quality and quantity of goods cleared from customs, the DRI will now also check whether businessmen have paid VAT and income tax.

The department said it took such a measure to discourage businessmen from evading tax by changing firms frequently and showing zero income. Some firms operating through the Tatopani Customs have also been found to be involved in such practices, according to DRI.

The DRI will not only check containers, but also look into how businessmen seek to evade tax, said DRI Director General Shanta Bahadur Shrestha at an interaction on ‘business transaction from Tatopani customs’. “Now, investigation will not be limited to customs revenue,” he added.

The department is set to install software in customs offices which will inform whether a businessman has paid VAT and income tax right after details of his/her customs clearance document is entered. The DRI has also been checking whether goods are correctly valued.

The DRI has taken Keshav Karki of Karuna Enterprises into custody after his firm showed zero profit for three consecutive years. The department has also confiscated his goods and filed a case against him claiming a fine of Rs 14 million.

The department has also started to check VAT bills of sales while checking containers cleared from the Tatopani Customs. “Even businessmen involved in trading for the last several years evade tax by changing name of firms,” said DRI Deputy Director General Sishir Kumar Dhungana. “The customs office will also check whether they have submitted their monthly and four monthly details of their transaction.”