Verify income sources of fish, poultry farming

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has asked the tax authority to devise ways to examine the authenticity of income sources shown by many taxpayers in their returns, including fish and poultry farming.

The anti-graft watchdog's recommendation came after it found during enquiry that many people could not show evidence in support of their incomes they claimed to have generated from stocking business, general trading and poultry, dairy and fish farming.

"It creates scope to legalise illegally-earned money if incomes that are shown in such heads are accepted in a blanket manner," said Secretary to the ACC Md Anwar Hossain Howlader in a letter to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) sent early last month.

The ACC said it thinks it was necessary to scrutinise incomes shown against these sources in a reasonable manner before accepting those to be legally earned.

The ACC's suggestion comes against the backdrop of the NBR offering reduced tax benefits for poultry, cattle, dairy and fish farming, feed and seed production, horticulture, sericulture, mushroom cultivation and floriculture since 2015.

The tax authority scrapped the benefit for fish farming in September 2014 after it found that a section of dishonest taxpayers is allegedly shifting income from other sources to fisheries to evade tax.

The tax privilege was reinstated the next year amid lobbying from various quarters.

At present, incomes of up to Tk 10 lakh from fishery hatchery and fish farming is tax-free.

Only 5 per cent tax is payable on the next Tk 10 lakh in income.

On annual incomes of over Tk 20 lakh, only 10 per cent is payable as tax, according to the NBR.

In case of poultry farming, no tax is applicable for incomes of up to Tk 20 lakh.

And 10 per cent tax is payable on incomes of over Tk 30 lakh from poultry farming, whereas the highest rate of tax for an individual is 25 per cent.

On Monday, at a views-exchange meeting on the launching of its Annual Report 2019, ACC Chairman Iqbal Mahmood said the NBR issues tax clearance certificates on income shown as earned from different kinds of businesses including fish farming and stocking.

"But during the enquiry, we often find no existence of such business," he said, adding that the NBR should examine these when tax returns were filed.

"It is the duty of the NBR to check the wealth of a person before issuing a certificate. But while dealing with cases on illegal wealth, we've seen these are not done properly," he said.

"Taking advantage of whitening black money or legalising bribe is not acceptable," said Mahmood.

Iqbal suggested simplifying the tax return form and enabling it to be wholly submitted online.