Import of 700 luxury vehicles; Ravi denies reports

18 December 2015 03:13 pm

Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake today denied reports that 700 vehicles had been undervalued had ordered to be released from Customs without levying the actual import duty.

He told Parliament that those who had imported these vehicles were asked to pay a duty surcharge of 35 per cent.

The minister said the Government had also taken steps to stop the release of containers carrying undervalued goods until the importers pay the duty on the actual value of the goods.

However, Chief Opposition Whip Anura Kumara Dissanayake accused the government of charging the duty proposed in the budget but without penalizing the importers.

The minister denied this allegation as baseless.

Responding to a question asked by Opposition MP BandulaGunawardane on the steps the government intends taking on the demand to reduce import duty on electric vehicles imported on letters of credit, the minister said there were only 35 such vehicles and that 25 of them had already been cleared.

He assured that due consideration would be given to the remaining 12 vehicles. (YP)