People having 'undisclosed' money will be able to legalise the same in the first four months of the 2008-2009 fiscal under a special offer to be announced in the next budget, an official said Wednesday.
The caretaker government, which offered similar facility in the outgoing fiscal, would continue the so-called 'money legalising scheme' for the second year running amid demands by the businessmen and trade groups.
A person will have to pay a minimum penal tax of 7.0 per cent on top of the normal tax rate to legalise his lawful income that has not been disclosed or revealed in any of his previous tax returns, the official said.
The National Board of Revenue (NBR), in principle, has taken the decision to offer the opportunity despite stiff opposition within the interim government, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"Initially, the government will offer the opportunity for only the months of June, July, August and September," he said, adding the time-span and the period could be changed.
"We hope a lot of people will avail themselves of this opportunity to legalise their undisclosed income. It will boost the government's coffer while at the same time ease worries for the people with huge amount of unrevealed income," he added.
The decision follows a strong plea by the country's apex trade body, the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) for continuation of the scheme for the second year.
The FBCCI in its budget proposal has also demanded that the government allow investment of the undisclosed money in some job-creating industrial sectors without charging any penalty.
The apex chamber made the call, as experts said the country is sitting on a huge pool of undisclosed money worth hundreds of billions of taka. But the money has remained idle, hardly making any contribution to the country's economic uplift.
The caretaker government last year offered the opportunity of legalising undisclosed income for four months from June through September.
Under a special NBR statutory regulatory order, a person was required to pay a penal tax of 5.0 per cent plus normal tax rate under the opportunity.
The scheme, however, failed to make any major headway as only Tk 52.13 billion worth undisclosed income was 'legalised' in the period, with the government earning an extra tax of Tk 8.02 billion.
Only 42,459 people availed the opportunity, despite an earlier forecast that a nationwide anti-graft crackdown launched by the caretaker government would prompt a large number of people to whiten their unrevealed income.
Officials said people belonging to the middle-income group mostly responded to the special offer although it aimed at targeting the big fishes.
Another official said ill-gotten income i.e money earned through corruption or crimes such as smuggling will not enjoy the opportunity.
"This special facility is not for the people who are smugglers, criminals, or who made the money through bribe or any sort of corruption," he said.
In the existing income tax law, there is a provision to legalise undisclosed income anytime with payment of penalty starting from 10 per cent to 250 per cent.
