Mobile Sim Replacement
ACC launches probe into tax evasion by 4 cos
The Anti-Corruption Commission has launched an inquiry into alleged tax evasion worth Tk 3,062.20 crore by four mobile phone operators through SIM replacement, officials of the ACC told New Age on Monday. They said they had already started investigation into the matter after found allegation of the losses of government revenue through evading SIM replacement tax by the operators — Grameenphone, Robi, Banglalink and Airtel.
The ACC officials are now taking preparation to interrogate the officials of the National Board of Revenue, mobile phone operators and Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission involved with the matter.
Earlier, the ACC sought necessary documents including the joint committee reports on SIM replacement tax from the National Board of Revenue.
Officials of the revenue board said Abdul Kafi, commissioner of the Large Taxpayers Unit (value-added tax) of the NBR, on October 29 sent the documents including joint committee reports to the ACC.
‘We are now scrutinising the documents. We will place the inquiry report to the commission with recommending filing cases against involved people if any corruption allegation in the whole process of SIM replacement is found true,’ an official of the ACC told New Age.
Officials from the mobile operators, revenue board and the BTRC will be interrogated along with scrutinising the documents, he said.
The revenue board has been demanding the amount in tax since early 2012 claiming that the operators had dodged the tax through selling old SIMs to new clients though the operators informed the NBR that they replaced the SIMs to old subscribers.
The government later formed a tripartite committee to settle the dispute by scrutinising the documents provided by the operators.
The NBR members of the committee in April finalised the report reducing the demand to Tk 3,010.99 crore as the operators could not prove their demand of replacing the old SIMs to old customers while representatives from the operators and BTRC did not signed in the report.
The committee found six separate amounts in tax ranging from Tk 3,010.99 crore to Tk 520.60 crore calculating the tax using various methods.
Since then, the operators continued to lobby with the finance ministry to lower the amount.
In July, in an inter-ministerial meeting on the issue, finance minister AMA Muhith decided to settle the dispute after discussion with the operators.
The NBR officials said that finance minister would again sit with the officials concerned on the matter to make a decision.
According to NBR final report, the GP was supposed to pay Tk 1,562.29 crore, Banglalink Tk 762.34 crore, Robi Tk 647.24 crore and Airtel Tk 38.79 crore to the NBR as SIM replacement tax.
Regarding ACC initiative, a high official of the NBR welcomed the initiative and told New Age that they would describe their position to the ACC, if asked.
According to Customs Act, the revenue board cannot reduce the tax amount as the operators failed to provide documents.
Association of Mobile Telephone Operators secretary general TIM Nurul Kabir could not be reached for his comment.
-With New Age input
