Gambling metaverse trapped in tax net


FE REPORT | Published: May 21, 2024 00:11:59


Gambling metaverse trapped in tax net


Taxmen on hunt for revenue now trapped online gamblers onto tax net and taxed Tk 500 million in one instance.
Officials said the National Board of Revenue (NBR) realised evaded taxes worth Tk 500 million Monday from online gambling-company Ulkagames.
The High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh ordered Brac bank to pay the taxes from the account of the company.
The tax zone-15 retrieved the tax arrears through legal move which the Central Intelligence Cell (CIC) had initiated two years ago.
Commissioner of taxes Ahsan Habib of Zone-15 said coordinated efforts of the tax officials under the zone helped the government to net in the taxes.
"The all-out efforts have paid off through depositing the evaded taxes with the public exchequer," he said.
Earlier, 14-member panel of taxmen of the zone had conducted a 13-hour operation to recover the taxes of the company from BRAC Bank.
However, Brac Bank could not allow taxmen to withdraw the money due to legal issues and having court cases.
Earlier, the CIC froze Tk 530 million in bank account of Ulka Games Limited that was deposited with Brac Bank suspecting siphoning of the money to other countries.
Complications arise due to an ongoing lawsuit between Ulka Games and the Indian company Moonfrog.
However, taxmen say the case has no connection with NBR's debt and they launched the move with approval from the NBR chairman.
Reports say online gaming and gambling pervades the virtual world, even down to lower orders of society.

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