The government has taken a move to allow a few more public sector banks to receive different taxes and registration fees with a view to ensuring smooth collection of its revenues, officials said.
Presently, no scheduled banks in the country are allowed to receive various registration fees except for the state-owned Sonali Bank, they said.
Under the proposed move, one or more state-owned banks would be allowed along with Sonali Bank to receive tax, fee and duty against registration of lands and other properties, they added.
The Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division under the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs has sent a proposal to the Ministry of Finance (MoF) in this regard, the officials said.
Approval from the MoF is needed for amending the Rules as per Section 7(2) of the Public Money and Budget Management Act-2009, Rules of Business and Allocation of Business, an official concerned said.
"The Bangladesh Registration Rules, 2014 will be amended to allow any bank to collect registration fee, tax and duty," Deputy Secretary of the Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division Dr. Mohammad Mohiuddin told the FE last week.
 "It is possible to check revenue evasion in the registration sector. Earnings will increase to Tk 100 billion from the sector if the plan is implemented," an official of the Registration Directorate has estimated.
Some Tk 72 billion has been earned as revenue against registration in the last fiscal year, he added.
As the Sonali Bank remains busy with general banking and other related activities, it cannot fully concentrate on collection of registration fees in different heads, a high official of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs said. Presently, different fees in the form of tax, fee and duty on various registrations are being collected through pay orders and value added tax (VAT) is also collected through treasury 'chalan'. Only fixed branches of the Sonali Bank collect the fees as a treasury branch of the government, he added.
Revenues are deposited with the government coffer through treasury chalan a day after receiving pay orders. As a result, the branch authorities concerned have to face heavy workload, he mentioned.
Besides, it is not possible to collect pay orders the same day by stakeholders involved with the registration process. For this, stakeholders have been facing difficulties and complexities, he added.
He, however, said collection of registration fees will increase if the proposed initiative is implemented.
Section of 117 (1) of the Bangladesh Registration Rules, 2014 states, "All fees and fines realised under the Act shall be entered in the fee book and shall be remitted to treasury or deposited in the Sonali Bank as provided in sub-rules (2) & (4). All receipts and payments shall be entered in the cashbook specified in Rule 7. Registering officers are personally responsible for the safe custody of all cash until paid into the treasury or Sonali Bank or otherwise disbursed to the proper payee."
According to Sub Rules 2 of 117, "Deposit of fees and fines realised under the Act shall be made by all the registration offices into the branches of Sonali Bank and the Bank shall remit the same to the treasury in the manner as may be specified by the government on its behalf."
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A few more banks likely to be allowed to receive govt fees
Rezaul Karim | Published: September 05, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00
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