When to submit wealth statement
Anyone with experience of preparing tax returns is aware that there is a complicated part: matching asset with liability.
If your assets equal liabilities, it is fine and you can submit your tax return along with other supporting documents.
If you fail to match the two, you need to go back to detect the error and correct before you are set for submission.
And in case you have a car, house property or an apartment in any city corporation, you will require to provide your wealth statement irrespective of any amount, according to the National Board of Revenue.
Submission of wealth statement is also necessary for persons whose gross wealth crossed Tk 40 lakh by the end of the last income year, for example 2020-21.
Submission of asset and liability statements is also necessary for your spouse, children, minors and dependants when you have any of the above: car, house, apartment or over Tk 40 lakh worth of asset.
But for taxpayers whose gross wealth are yet to cross Tk 40 lakh, wealth statement submission is voluntary.
Yet Md Mohidul Islam Chowdhury, second secretary of tax policy at the NBR, suggest that young taxpayers should furnish asset-liability statements along with their tax returns.
"Because this will be helpful for them keep track of the accumulation of their wealth and liabilities over time. If they do not keep track of their wealth accrued during their income periods, they will find it difficult to provide correct information when they will need to comply with rules of furnishing wealth statements," he said.
Senior citizens, who do not have prospects of asset accumulation, may skip giving asset liability statement in case their wealth does not exceed Tk 40 lakh, he said.
Snehasish Barua, partner of chartered accountancy firm Snehasish Mahmud & Co, said regular submission of asset liability statement would be beneficial for taxpayers.
"You get an opening balance when you regularly furnish this information. It provides a trail of growth of asset," he said.
Jasim Uddin Rasel, a tax consultant, suggest giving actual information.
"There is a common misconception that overstating assets is beneficial in the future. This intention may create problems in the future when the taxpayer's file will be selected for audit by the tax authority," he said.
"If the taxpayers can not give a satisfactory answer, then legal consequences may result in a penalty and punishment," he said.
Also, he said, "Inflating wealth may create financial loss. A surcharge may need to be paid if the amount of net wealth exceeds a particular ceiling due to overstating assets. Taxpayer shall show what he/she has exactly on June 30 to avoid trouble in the future."