Grameen Bank has sought tax exemption on its income for the period of six months with retrospective effect from January 2011 to June 2011 that left out of tax
exemption facility given by the National Board of Revenue.
The GB had enjoyed tax exemption facility from its inception in 1983 to December 2010. But the decision of extending the facility to the GB was pending until June 2012 when the NBR had again provided tax exemption facility for 4 years and 6 months until December, 2015 with retrospective effect from July 2011.
In the process, the above mentioned six months from January 2011 to June 2011 had been left out of the facility and the micro-finance bank had paid Tk 10 crore in advance taxes for the period.
In last week, Grameen Bank Chairman Khondaker Muzammel Huq sent a letter to the NBR seeking exemption of all types of taxes including income tax, super tax and business profit tax of the bank for the period.
‘The GB has already completed its annual financial statement for the year 2011 as it follows January-December as financial year. The bank will have to prepare half-yearly financial statement based on credit and deposit accounts of the 84 lakh members of the bank which is time-consuming, tough and problematic for the bank,’ the letter stated.
It said that the above mentioned six months had been left out as the NBR considered the financial year from June to July or it might have been simply printing mistake or unwillingly done mistake.
So the NBR should provide tax exemption to the bank for the period so that it can solve the problems and the tax exemption facility remained unbroken, it said.
NBR officials said that the NBR did not take any decision on the issue.
They, however, said that the bank would get back its money paid as advance tax in 2011 amounting Tk 10 crore if the NBR provides exemption for the period.
-With New Age input
