11 million euros smuggled out of BiH: Controls completed for taxpayers targeted in Courier operation

The Indirect Taxation Authority has completed controls of taxpayers who were the subject of the operation codenamed “KURIR“, carried out by the Indirect Taxation Authority and the State Investigation and Protection Agency – SIPA, at the end of 2015. After inventorying goods, it was discovered that six taxpayers, whose owners are Chinese citizens, had a surplus of goods valued at 2,159,955 BAM according to bookkeeping records, and a shortage of goods amounting to 688,552.39 BAM, Patria reports.

Goods found to be in surplus, for which taxpayers had no documentation of origin, were seized by UIO officials, while for all determined shortages, tax inspectors of the Authority will calculate and collect the applicable value added tax in accordance with the Law on VAT in BiH.

We remind you that the operation codenamed “KURIR“ began on December 21, 2015, by officials of the UIO and SIPA, under the order of the Court and Prosecutor's Office of BiH, and with the support of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tuzla Canton, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Posavina Canton, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Brčko District, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska. Cooperation was also realized with police officers from the Republic of Croatia (USKOK).

In the well-prepared and executed operation, it was determined that Chinese goods were being sold on the BiH market “off the books“, and the money obtained from the sale of goods was mostly converted into euros and a smaller part into US dollars, and then, through intermediaries, citizens of BiH, was taken out of the customs territory of BiH to neighboring the Republic of Croatia, where it was deposited into accounts of a commercial bank, from where it was later transferred to accounts in China through financial transactions.

In this way, more than 11 million euros and about 50,000 USD were smuggled out of BiH. Earlier, at the request of the Prosecutor's Office of BiH, the Court of BiH imposed prohibitory measures on a certain number of individuals who were apprehended in this operation. The final outcome of the entire case is expected to be the filing and confirmation of an indictment for grounds of suspicion that criminal offenses in the field of indirect taxes have been committed, and their prosecution before the competent judicial institutions.