No more duty-free cars for MPs

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The council of advisers yesterday cancelled the lawmakers’ privilege of importing duty-free cars as most members of parliament (MPs) in the past misused it.

The move would ensure equal rights of all citizens, said the finance ministry proposal placed before the council’s weekly meeting.

At least 303 cars were imported by the lawmakers from 2001 to 2006, during the period of the eighth parliament, under the duty-free scheme due to which the government lost around Tk 211 crore in taxes, sources said.

Most of the imported cars are very luxurious and their tax ranged from 73.91 per cent to 196.10 per cent, the finance ministry notified the advisory council meeting.

The MPs were provided with the privilege to import duty-free cars on May 24, 1988 during HM Ershad’s rule. The provision was later amended on August 28, 2002, with retrospective effect from July 1 the same year.

According to the amendment, an MP was allowed to import cars and SUVs without paying value added tax or supplementary duty as soon as they were elected. But they could not purchase more than two cars under this facility and could not sell the car within three years of purchase. If elected twice, they could purchase another car under the same facility after eight years.

The law was further amended on August 22, 2005, which stated that an MP would be able to purchase a car only after two years of being elected. This amendment, in effect, barred woman MPs selected under extended quota in 2005 from importing duty-free cars.

The amendment further added that an MP could purchase cars for the second time after seven years of being first elected and that they could not sell a car within four years of purchase.

The engine size of the duty-free cars was also set at 1650cc and SUVs at 3000cc.

But, parliamentarians got involved in selling the permits for cars under the duty-free privilege during the first BNP rule, and during the last BNP-led coalition government each permit for duty-free cars was sold for as high as Tk 25 lakh.

A number of companies who sell luxury cars in Bangladesh became involved in buying out the permits, with four luxury car distributors’ cartel buying out the permits from 200 MPs, sources said, adding that the companies sold the cars to local businessmen with a good amount of profit.

These luxurious cars and sport utility vehicles (SUV) purchased by the former MPs belong to prestigious brands like Mercedes Benz, BMW, Hummer, and Porsche.

According to information received in 2006, 54 of the 275 cars imported by MPs were BMWs, the cost of which is Tk 20 lakh to Tk 84 lakh without tax.

The MPs also imported 40 Mercedes Benz cars (priced between Tk 25 lakh and Tk 1 crore 18 lakh) and SUVs (priced between Tk 51 lakh and Tk 73 lakh).

Besides, 10 Porsches priced between Tk 26 lakh and Tk 3 crore, Lexus cars and SUVs priced between Tk 18 lakh and Tk 47 lakh, 16 Land Rovers priced between Tk 46 lakh and Tk 54 lakh, four Hummers priced between Tk 20 lakh and Tk 91 lakh, and four Cadillacs priced between Tk 20 lakh and Tk 49 lakh were imported by the ex-MPs.

Other cars include 42 Toyota Land Cruisers priced at Tk 35 lakh each, three Lincoln SUVs priced between Tk 20 lakh and Tk 50 lakh, three Nissan 56 Infiniti cars priced between Tk 20 lakh and Tk 40 lakh, 15 Nissan Patrol SUVs and two Nissan Pathfinders priced between Tk 16 lakh and Tk 31 lakh, 37 Mitsubishi Pajero V-6 SUVs priced between Tk 12 lakh and Tk 25 lakh, two Toyota SUVs, and one Toyota Corolla.

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