NBR refuses to accept tax paid by Khaleda

FE Team | Published: August 02, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

Doulot Akter Mala
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) said Wednesday it will not accept the tax worth Tk 3.3 million paid by immediate past Prime Minister Khaleda Zia Tuesday at the central bank.
Khaleda Zia, who is also BNP chairperson, has shown Tk 20 million as undisclosed income and paid the tax before the deadline on July 31.
The government has offered an opportunity to legalise undisclosed income by payment of 5.0 per cent penalty in addition to normal tax rate.
However, the NBR has extended the time from July 31 to September 30 next on Tuesday for payment of tax to legalise the undisclosed income.
When asked about the NBR's opinion on acceptance of the undisclosed money, the NBR chairman Badiur Rahman said: "A taxpayer should file his/her tax return in a prescribed return form of the government, but the former prime minister did not do so."
But, as per income tax law the immediate past prime minister will be allowed to enjoy the opportunity offered by the government.
Khaleda Zia filed her tax return at the central bank instead of her tax zone, circle-22, tax zone-2. She filed tax return of the past five years under SRO-98.
"We will consider it as an application for filing tax return, but she should file tax return in a formal manner," Rahman said.
Khaleda Zia filed the tax return at Bangladesh Bank (BB) through pay order on token no-5-2006. She directly deposited the money in the BB and sent a copy of her statement to the NBR through courier service Tuesday.
As per income tax law, the board will not accept the tax, as it has not been filed in the government's prescribed form, which is considered as a legal paper, the NBR chairman said.
"We have prepared the tax return after obtaining a vetting of the law ministry," he added.
There is no recognition of such tax return in the income tax ordinance, he further said.
The NBR will only consider it as a piece of information or her willingness to pay tax on her undisclosed income. The deputy commissioner of the respective tax zone did not receive the pay order as it was paid in the central bank.
If a taxpayer wants to file amended return, he or she ought to do it in the NBR's prescribed form, he added.
Meanwhile, UNB adds: Former Prime Minister and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia appears to show assets worth about Tk 30 million in her wealth statement to be submitted to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) by August 7.
The anti-corruption watchdog issued the notice to Khaleda Zia on July 17, asking her to submit her wealth statement within seven working days. She received the notice the following day. Upon application, the ACC extended the deadline by another seven working days.
"Based on the information accumulated so far, the figure reached about Tk 25 million... I don't know yet whether the worth of wealth possessed by the former premier would reach Tk 30 million…. There may be some addition in the next seven days," Khaleda's lawyer Ahmed Aazam Khan said.