Mobile phone operators termed the National Board of Revenue's (NBR) claim of Tk 30.62 billion from four cell-phone companies as SIM replacement tax incorrect.
They said NBR's final report in this regard was not prepared according to the previously set terms and conditions (ToR).
The operators - Grameenphone (GP), Banglalink, Robi and Airtel - mentioned these at a letter issued to the Ministry of Finance on January 13. They also sought intervention of the finance minister for resolving the issue as per the ToR.
The top officials of the companies wrote in the letter: "The mobile telecommunication industry was astounded by demands, made by Large Taxpayers Unit (LTU)-VAT of NBR, amounting to a staggering total of Tk 30.62 billion based on five SIMs (for each company) purchased by the unit from unauthorized channel."
Following a series of negotiations regarding the SIM replacement tax issue, a joint committee was formed in August last with representatives from the revenue board, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), the Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB), the Large Taxpayers' Unit (LTU), and the operators concerned.
According to the committee report, the four telecom operators have to pay Tk 30.62 billion as SIM replacement tax. The report, prepared on December 30, mentioned that the operators evaded tax by selling new SIMs under the name of SIM replacement.
Out of Tk 30.62 billion, NBR claimed Tk 15.62 billion from GP, Tk 7.62 billion from Banglalink, Tk 6.47 billion from Robi, and Tk 0.39 billion from Airtel.
The letter, signed by the CEOs of the four operators, also mentioned: "We have now witnessed that the findings and methods, imposed after the interim report on the committee and sub-committees, are quite different and deviant from the methods and findings followed to prepare the interim report."
There is another allegation that the methodology in the post-interim report was not unanimously agreed upon. Besides, the operators'suggestions and advices were not taken into consideration.
They proposed to take the interim report as the basis of resolution of all outstanding disputes concerning the issue.
Executive vice president of Robi Mahmudur Rahman told the FE that they sought help from the finance minister to resolve the issue.
The NBR's findings were not prepared according to the ToR. The joint committee set some conditions for investigating the matter, but the authority concerned deviated from those conditions, he added.
Earlier, the Supreme Court directed NBR to review and resolve the matter within a stipulated timeframe.
Cell-phone cos term NBR\\\'s Tk 30.62b claim incorrect
Jamal Uddin | Published: January 18, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00
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