Says they got tax exemption illegally
The National Board of Revenue yesterday again claimed that seven companies bearing Grameen names have availed themselves of income tax exemption illegally.
At a press briefing in his office in Dhaka, NBR Chairman Md Ghulam Hussain also trashed the statements of the seven companies who said they had not received any tax exemption.
He said the statements were not true; as they did not pay taxes.
“Although specific information has not been used in the statements of the seven Grameen companies directly, there is apparent reason to believe that these are not based on accurate information,” he told reporters before reading out a statement.
The briefing came a day after seven legally independent companies bearing Grameen names protested the NBR claim that they had availed tax exemption facilities illegally using the name of the microcredit bank.
In a joint statement, the companies, who do not have legal ties with Grameen Bank, termed the allegations completely baseless, saying they had submitted income tax returns regularly and paid taxes accordingly.
The companies are Grameen Fisheries and Livestock Foundation, Grameen Capital Management Ltd, Grameen Communications, Grameen Shakti, Grameen Udyog, Grameen Trust and Grameen Kalyan.
About Grameen Fisheries and Livestock Foundation, the NBR chairman said the company showed fisheries, agriculture, livestock sectors and interests earned from banks as its source of income in its income tax statement every tax year.
“Although the earnings from the fisheries and livestock sectors are tax-free under conditions, income from agriculture sector and banks’ interests is taxable. But the taxpayer did not pay the taxes,” he said.
Hussain also said the company also did not invest a mandatory 10 percent of its income in the government bonds within the stipulated time.
Grameen Capital Management did not pay income taxes on its profits from its share trading business. Grameen Communications has been showing less profit every year by only showing accounts receivables in its balance sheet after deducting provisioning for bad loans, he added.
The provisioning for bad loans is not allowed to be shown as expenditure, but the company is doing that, said the NBR chief.
He also said Grameen Shakti showed grants from Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (IDCOL) as its capital fund. But the fund was taxable under the tax laws, as the company is involved in sales businesses ranging from solar energy to biogas plants.
The same is true for Grameen Udyog, as it is using grant money to do business in garments making and sales, said Hussain.
He also said Grameen Trust had not paid income taxes after claiming its income from bank interests and dividends is tax-free. But the income from bank interests and dividends is taxable.
About Grameen Kalyan, Hussain said the company lent Grameen Krishi Foundation a huge amount of money without interest. But the company had borrowed from other companies and showed interest as expenditure.
But the interest for the loans to Grameen Krishi Foundation was not shown as income. As a result, income taxes in the case was not paid, said Hussain.
During the briefing, he did not give any scope to reporters to ask any question.
The protest from the companies sparked after the NBR, in a report submitted to the cabinet on Monday, said the companies had enjoyed income tax exemption facilities unlawfully — a claim which got immediate backing from Finance Minister AMA Muhith.
Muhith also said the NBR would send letters to the companies asking for the income taxes.
Asked whether letters have been sent to Grameen Bank or the seven companies as a section of media had claimed, the NBR chairman told The Daily Star: “It will take some time. We will have to take opinions from the law ministry about many issues.”
-With The Daily Star input
