People will able to declare their undisclosed yet legal income by paying 7.0 per cent penal tax in addition to normal tax rate from Tuesday (tomorrow).
The special offer remains valid for the first four months (July-October) of the fiscal 2008-09. The offer was made by the finance adviser in his budget speech delivered on June 09 last.
The government, however, turned down requests from business leaders for allowing such disclosure without any penal tax.
The caretaker government last year offered the opportunity of declaring undisclosed income with 5.0 per cent penal tax for four months from June through September.
NBR officials said the government's latest offer is quite different from that of the last year where undisclosed income was accepted without any 'question'.
According to the draft Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) of the National Board of Revenue (NBR), undisclosed money holders will have to declare source of the income. The taxpayer will also have to explain as to why he/she failed to declare his/her income in due time.
There will be no scope for whitening of black money earned through illegal means under this offer. Only lawfully earned income will be allowed under the opportunity to come in formal channel, officials said.
People who are facing legal action for tax evasion will not be entitled to avail themselves of the opportunity, the SRO said.
"Legally earned income of any individuals, company or other tax-payer or any investment in land, building, cars, bank balance, stock that remained undisclosed in income tax return could avail the opportunity for formalising their income," the SRO wrote.
Undisclosed money holders will have to declare their amount in the tax rate of 2008-09 fiscal along with penalty.
In the previous offer, undisclosed money holders could declare their amount in the tax-rates of respective years for which he/she planned to declare the income.
The NBR had mopped up tax worth Tk 8.02 billion from the undisclosed income in the last offer where 42,459 people declared Tk 52.13 billion.
For 2008-09, the revenue board has projected only Tk 3.0 billion tax from undisclosed income as the latest offer is not as liberal as the previous ones.
