Online payment of land tax mandatory from Apr 14 next

The government has made online payment of land development taxes mandatory from April 14 next year while the land owners will gradually get smart cards which will be treated as a Certificate of Land Ownership (CLO).

"The online payment system will be introduced from the day of upcoming Bengali New Year and there will be no manual collection system since then," Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury told a programme at Bangladesh Secretariat on Thursday.

Bangladesh Secretariat Reporters Forum (BSRF), an organisation of journalists covering the Bangladesh Secretariat issues arranged the dialogue.

After paying taxes online, he elaborated, the land owners could collect their receipts (Dakhila) online with QR code. It would help introduce a cashless land tax system across the country like cashless e-mutation.

He further explained that the single document of CLO will be the proof of land ownership.

Mr Chowdhury said that the land owner's information as per government records, overall information including land development tax payment information, and land location information such as geo-location of the land on Mauza map can be found out from this document.

He also explained that the smart CLO will contain a digital version of information about the land owned by the card bearer and all previous information of those lands as per all government records.

Replying to a question about land survey at Chattogram Hill Tracts, the minister said: "We're working slowly, gradually and confidently."

President of BSRF Tapan Biswas presided over the event.

talhabinhabib@yahoo.com