Staff of 5 state-owned banks have alleged that the Nationwide Board of Income (NBR) is imposing revenue taxes on all their allowances and advantages with out recognising their standing as authorities staff.
In line with them, all allowances and advantages for presidency staff, excluding primary wage, competition allowances, and bonuses, are eligible for revenue tax exemption, however the NBR is just not following this.
Officers from the state-owned banks Sonali, Janata, Agrani, Rupali, and Bangladesh Improvement Financial institution have urged the NBR to stop its imposition of further revenue taxes on round 40,000 financial institution staff.
They declare that they’ve been receiving NBR notices for extra revenue taxes since 2018 and have been actively opposing the matter ever since.
Displaying NBR revenue tax notices issued towards him, a deputy common manager-level official of Janata Financial institution informed The Enterprise Commonplace, “Janata Financial institution is totally government-owned, and its staff are thought-about authorities staff. Nonetheless, the NBR has issued notices imposing taxes on all types of revenue, categorising the financial institution as a non-public establishment.”
He mentioned regardless of a number of conferences held between the administration committees of the state-owned banks and the NBR on this regard, no decision has been reached.
In line with sources, the NBR has been sending notices for extra revenue tax to the staff of those banks based mostly on the Pay Scale 2015 notification issued by the Ministry of Finance. The names of Sonali, Janata, Agrani, Rupali, and Bangladesh Improvement Financial institution weren’t included on this notification.
Throughout that interval, separate notifications for pay scales had been launched for civil administration, autonomous and state-owned establishments, in addition to banks, insurance coverage firms, and monetary establishments, police, Border Guard Bangladesh, and the judiciary. These banks weren’t listed below the class of banks, insurance coverage, and monetary establishments within the notification.
Nonetheless, financial institution officers mentioned a notification issued by the Ministry of Finance on 22 February 2023, stipulated that the Pay Scale 2015 shouldn’t be relevant to the staff of those 5 banks, except the chief government officers and managing administrators, till these banks set up their very own pay scales.
In line with the 2023 notification of the Finance Ministry, officers of those banks might be chargeable for revenue tax, just like different authorities staff, mentioned Janata Financial institution Deputy Common Supervisor Monirul Hoque Chowdhury.
He mentioned, “We have now had a number of conferences with the Finance Ministry relating to this matter. The ministry has additionally offered steerage on the difficulty. We have now articulated our cheap requests to the NBR by varied channels. Nonetheless, they insist on tax assortment in accordance with the regulation.
“The finance ministry has clarified that there isn’t any requirement to classify these banks below the bank-insurance sector within the pay scale. They’re entitled to take pleasure in the identical advantages as autonomous establishments. Nonetheless, it stays a major query why the NBR has not addressed this matter accordingly.”
A number of NBR officers on situation of anonymity mentioned that the choice to challenge notices demanding further revenue tax from these financial institution officers got here from the NBR’s head workplace, somewhat than being a choice made on the area stage.
Md Mohidul Islam Chowdhury, second secretary (tax regulation) on the Nationwide Board of Income, mentioned, “The tax assortment notices have been issued based mostly on the Nationwide Pay Scale 2015 provisions. The latest directives from the Finance Ministry usually are not conclusive on this matter. Their names ought to be included within the pay-scale.”
Financial institution officers say if revenue tax is imposed on their complete revenue, senior principal officers will face an extra annual revenue tax burden starting from Tk30,000 to Tk80,000.
In the meantime, officers holding positions from assistant common supervisor to deputy managing director can be required to pay an extra revenue tax starting from Tk150,000 to Tk250,000. Within the present circumstances, no one is ready to shoulder such a considerable enhance of their tax legal responsibility, they mentioned.
