The National Board of Revenue (NBR) decided to be tough this time to make sure the house owners are taking their rents from their tenants through banks saying that the Board has given them enough time to get accustomed to the system, reports UNB.
The government made it mandatory from July 1 last year to collect house rents if it goes above Tk 25,000 through the banking channel, aiming to bring both the landlords and the tenants under the tax net.
According to the rule, anyone having the ownership of any property used for commercial or residential purposes will have to collect his or her monthly rent through a bank account in any scheduled bank if it crosses Tk 25,000.
"We've given enough time to the house owners and tenants for acclimatisation… now time has come to get tough," a senior NBR official told the news agency.
He said the system will surely be enforced properly as it will be good for all-both the owners and the tenants.
According to the rule, the NBR will penalise house owners at the rate of 50 per cent of tax payable on incomes derived from the house property or Tk 5,000, whichever is higher, for not transacting it through banks, according to the Finance Bill 2014.
The NBR official said the house owners and tenants will have to submit the house rent information and the bank account slips while submitting their income tax return unfailingly.
According to the NBR official, the government can collect thousands of crore of taka as tax from over 150,000 building owners in the country's nine city corporations. "That's why the Board has also decided to tighten the monitoring system," he said.
About the time that has already elapsed in enforcing the rule, the NBR official said it was very natural around the world to take time in implementing a new law or a rule. "But, in our country it takes a bit more time as our people always have a phobia about any new system or law. That's why the Board has given them (house owners and tenants) some space to realise the fact and get over the fear."
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