Changes in income tax rules on house rent

The government plans to bring changes in income tax rules for realising tax on house rent as the existing rule is not enough to prevent tax evasion of the house owners.

National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Md Ghulam Hussain made the statement in reply to a question at the post budget-briefing on Friday afternoon.

“We will make new rules for realising house rent tax after passage of finance bill,” the NBR chief said.

Currently, there is provisions for filing 10% penalty in the income tax ordinance, but there will be provision for 50% fines if house owners found guilty for not receiving the house payment over Tk25,000 through cheque, he said.

He, however, said the government is yet to set any rule or policy on how to make payment of house rents through banking channel to bring transparency in the house rent collection.

In the proposed budget for the 2014-15 financial year, Finance Minister AMA Muhith proposed that the house rent over Tk25,000 a month should be paid through bank cheques.

Source: Dhaka Tribune