fb
MG Reacts to the Reinstatement of the Under-Invoicing Inquiry
  Sep 02, 2023      

MG Reacts to the Reinstatement of the Under-Invoicing Inquiry

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has ordered the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to re-investigate MG's alleged under-invoicing of CBU car imports.

The FBR had closed the case after verifying that the claims of under-invoicing were baseless, but the new government has requested a reinvestigation.

Accusations:

Following the PAC decision on Tuesday last week, numerous significant personalities, including veteran journalists Syed Kousar Kazmi and Syed Talat Hussain, as well as the former Minister of Defense, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, spoke out against the carmaker.

According to one of the journalists, the previous administration pushed customs employees to under-invoice the automobiles. He went on to say that at first, the customs department cleared 1,000 MG units based on the member operations' verbal instructions, with a claimed value of $11,000 each unit.

"In the interim, CKD kits for similar cars were authorized at Lahore Dry Port for $16,000 per vehicle," he said.

In a tweet, leading journalist Kamran Khan stated that the pre-existing automakers are a factor in PAC's re-investigation directives, alluding to a top FBR official.

MG’s Response:

The corporation has also spoken out about the situation. "The claimed MG import fraud is utter fabrication to damage officers' image and attack Chinese investment in Pakistan adversely," a senior corporate executive stated.

He said that the corporation has previously experienced the identical probing process and come out unscathed. He emphasized the following:

All SUVs, such as the Toyota Rush, Prince Glory, Proton, and Changan, were imported and cleared at reported prices, however the value of MG cars was increased, and extra customs and taxes totaling $1.1 billion were collected from the MG vehicle importer.

The corporation also made the following comments in response to the notice of re-"misplaced investigation's assumptions":

 

  • The PAC's comparison of CKDs and CBUs is based on only 24 kits, despite the fact that the total number of CBU cars is above 10,000.
  • According to their import documentation, the business solely imported CKD kits as Pre-Production Vehicles (PPV) kits to manufacture high-quality demonstration vehicles. The firm has yet to start full-scale domestic vehicle assembly in Pakistan.
  • The freight rates for these kits are $1,400 more than for CBU automobiles, according to import records.
  • These kits were imported in high-end packaging with a price tag of up to $900. The packaging is designed to keep the kits fresh for longer.
  • The substantial increase in microprocessor costs on the foreign market totaled $800. As a result, these figures show the cost difference between CKD kits and CBU automobiles.

Javed Afridi has also defended MG, saying that any relevant organisations are allowed to undertake "any type of probe." In the re-investigation of the under-invoicing case, MG is ready to go toe-to-toe with the investigators.