HC asks NBR to accept Coco's tax return

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The High Court (HC) Tuesday ordered the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to accept income tax return of Tk Tk 3.92 million (Tk 39.20 lakh) for the tax years from 2002 to 2007 of Arafat Rahman Coco, the younger son of former prime minister Khaleda Zia, reports bdnews24.com.
Coco appealed to the court against the NBR's refusal to accept the income tax return.
It also asked the secretary to the Internal Resources Division (IRD) of the finance ministry, the NBR chairman, the deputy director of the central intelligence branch of NBR and the deputy commissioner of income tax to explain in next four weeks why the refusal was not illegal.
A HC bench of Justice Md Abdur Rashid and Justice Miftauddin Chowdhury issued the order on a writ petition by Coco.
Coco deposited Tk 3.92 million in unpaid income taxes for the years from 2002 to 2007 to Bangladesh Bank.
The NBR, however, declined to accept the income tax return, prompting Coco to appeal to the HC.
In his petition, Coco said the government allowed individuals to file unpaid income tax returns through a gazette on June 4.
But the NBR unlawfully declined to accept his unpaid income tax.
Barrister Mahbub Uddin Khokanw , who argued for Coco in the court, said as Coco's income tax return was not accepted on political grounds since he was Khaleda's son.