The High Court on Thursday upheld the National Board of Revenue demand for Tk 119 crore in income tax of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus’ entities Grameen Kalyan and Grameen Bank for six tax years in 2013–2017.
The High Court bench of Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar and Justice Sardar Md Rashed Jahangir rejected seven Tax petitions filed by the companies against the NBR demand.
Attorney general AM Amin Uddin told reporters after the court verdict that the deputy commissioner of taxes had demanded Tk 554 crore in income tax from Grameen Kalyan rejecting the company’ prayer for tax waiver on the ground of business expenditures.
He said that the commissioner of taxes questioned the accounts of the expenditures as there was no valid document in support of the expenditures.
The attorney general said that the commissioner of taxes also rejected the audit reports submitted by the companies in support of the expenditures.
He said that Grameen Kalyan appealed to the commissioner of taxes first, then to the Taxes Appellate Tribunal and lastly to the High Court challenging legality against the tax demand.
The attorney general said that the company earlier paid Tk 39,70,83,293 as precondition to appeal against the tax demand.
According to NBR data, the Grameen Kalyan in different period paid Tk 436.65 crore income taxes for the tax years in 2011–2017.
The company sought tax waiver for the demanded amount as ‘expenditures in profit and loss account’.
The expenditures include payment of salaries to the employees of Grameen Bank’s head office, health care to Grammen employees at the rural areas, entertainment, and purchasing furniture.
The NBR disbelieved the amounts spent and allowed only up to 20 per cent claim in lump sum.
Earlier on February 12, the High Court upheld the NBR demand for Tk 15.39 crore in gift tax from Yunus.
Yunus sought tax waiver on the amount as he gifted the amount of his income as donations to his own trusts.
Yunus’ lawyer Sarder Jinnat Ali told reporters that Grameen Kalyan would decide later whether it would appeal to the Appellate Division against the High Court verdict after obtaining the certified copy of the verdict.
Deputy attorney general Pratikar Chakma and assistant attorney general Tahmina Polly represented the revenue board.
New Age
