\'Illegal\' tax benefits enjoyed by Yunus under probe: Muhith

Finance Minister AMA Muhith said Thursday the government is investigating 'illegal' tax benefits taken by Prof Muhammad Yunus for organisations bearing the name 'Grameen'.
"It's a very difficult issue. Prof Yunus has taken tax benefits for all the entities with the name Grameen which is illegal. It is being investigated. That's all," the minister told newsmen replying to a query at his Secretariat office.
He was asked whether any step will be taken by the ministry of finance to realise the unpaid taxes from Prof Yunus.
Mr Muhith's remark came a day after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called on Wednesday Prof Yunus a 'cheat', and accused him of not providing shares of Grameenphone profits to Grameen Bank.
In a parliament session, she also blamed the Nobel laureate for evading taxes on his own income and for companies which were established with the name 'Grameen'.
On the day, the minister had a meeting on 'export possibilities in IT (Information Technology) sector' where the stakeholders demanded cash incentive and widening of tax exemption to help flourish the industry.
Mr Muhith agreed to re-launch the equity and entrepreneurship fund (EEF) immediately for the sector but said he needs to discuss the cash incentive issue with concerned ministers before taking a decision.
State Minister for Science and Information and Communication Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak led the delegation of IT sector entrepreneurs with the finance minister.
President of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) Mustafa Jabbar, former president Shameem Ahsan, finance secretary Mahbub Ahmed, and chairman of the national board of revenue Nojibur Rahman also attended the meeting, among others.
The stakeholders argued that since many other sectors get cash incentive, the promising IT sector also deserves the facility for further boosting exports.
Mr Jabbar said the high export targets set by the industry can easily be attained if policy and financial supports are available from the government.
He said the tax holiday facility for the sector needs to be widened further. Some more areas need to be included.
Mr Palak advocated for cash incentive saying that it will help boost both software and hardware exports and create employment in this sector.
He demanded 20 per cent cash incentive for next five years for the sector.
Former BASIS president Ahsan said since other export sectors get cash incentive as part of the government's effort to raise export earnings, IT sector also deserves the facility.
However, finance secretary Mahbub Ahmed opposed the demand for cash incentive saying that it would not be wise to make the IT industry dependent on the government through the facility.
He said any kind of policy support can be extended to the sector but not financial support.
Mr Ahmed said the apparel industry is given cash incentive support for a long period. The industry has already become matured but the cash incentive facility could not be cancelled due to pressure groups.
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