NBR to swoop on holders of unearned money

FE Team | Published: March 29, 2011 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

A government move is on to enlist those who have piled up 'unearned wealth' in the recent years. The National Board of Revenue (NBR) is taking preparation to find out persons, who have made 'unnatural growth of wealth' in the recent years, and put their names on a list. "Yes, we have got the directives from the Prime Minister Sunday and we are taking our preparation to start the process as early as possible to prepare a list of persons who have amassed wealth illegally," a senior official of NBR told UNB on a query Monday. Sheikh Hasina during a meeting at her office Sunday asked the NBR high-ups to inquire into the unnatural growth of wealth of certain persons. Finance Minister AMA Muhith and Finance Adviser to the Prime Minister Dr Mashiur Rahman were present at the meeting. The NBR official said that the perception of the head of the government "is pretty much correct" that a section of people managed to amass wealth within a short span of time. "We have always tried to catch those people, but somehow they managed to escape. This time it would be rather tough for them to get off the hook without paying proper amount of taxes," he said. Replying to a query, he said that the people who manage a considerable amount of money always get the blessings from the politicians and some other powerful quarters of the government. The Prime Minister from the meeting also asked the NBR officials to ensure the accountability and transparency of the taxpayers relating to their income and expenditure. The NBR official said that this type of drive would be very much helpful to collect proper amounts of taxes for the public exchequer. "This decision will be helpful in a bid to improving revenue collection for the exchequer and establish justice in the society," he said. Finance Minister AMA Muhith recently told the parliament that the target for tax would be increased by Tk 10 billion (1,000 crore) to Tk 735.90 billion. To achieve the new target, the government has to dig new areas for tax collection and unusually rich people would be the best choice for the purpose, said the NBR official. Asked about the process to be followed to find out the people having unusual growth of wealth, he said that the NBR officials would target the inhabitants of the posh areas of all the metropolitan cities. "This is quite easy," he said adding that there is no reason for the genuine taxpayers to be worried.