Whitening Black Money: Wholesale scope goes
The opportunity to whiten black money without any question from authorities regarding its source, which was offered by the government in the current fiscal year, is not going to continue the next fiscal year 2021-22.
It means the scope of legalising black money, which saw a record whitening of nearly Tk 14,459 crore, will expire on June 30
However, the scope of buying homes, land, buildings, or flats by paying a certain amount of tax, depending on area and location of the property, through undisclosed income will remain. But government agencies can ask questions about sources of funds.
In the outgoing fiscal, the amnesty was widened to cover any kind of untaxed income, while the government gave a wholesale opportunity to legalise income by introducing a provision that no authority, not even the income tax authority or the Anti-Corruption Commission, could question the source of assets once legalised.
Individual taxpayers were allowed to declare any type of undisclosed property, including homes, land, buildings, or flats, by paying a certain amount of tax for each square feet of the asset.
People were able to declare undisclosed cash, bank deposits, savings certificates, shares, bonds or any other securities by paying 10 percent in taxes.
They were also allowed to invest in the capital market by paying tax at a rate of 10 percent on the value of the investment for at least a year and show the investments in their tax returns.
A record Tk 14,459.40 crore of undisclosed assets were legalised in the first 10 months till April of the outgoing fiscal year 2020-21, according to National Board of revenue (NBR).
A total of 10,404 people paid Tk 1,445.94 crore in taxes to legalise assets during that period.
Of the total legalised assets, a major portion worth Tk 11,663.80 crore was legalised by paying taxes for undeclared fixed deposit receipts (FDRs), savings certificates, cash and others.
Undisclosed home properties worth Tk 2,513.20 crore were also legalised through tax paying.
While the rest Tk 282.40 crore was made legal through both investments in the share market and taxes.
In the previous 15 years till 2019-20, undeclared income worth Tk 14,595.43 crore was legalised through a scope given by the government.
Experts have been opposing offering such tax treatment terming it injustice to the honest taxpayers, who have to pay higher tax while black money holders are given only 10 percent tax rate.
The special tax treatment has been given since independence.
An undisclosed income of about Tk 30,824 crore was disclosed and an amount of about Tk 3,900 crore was collected from 1971 to 2021, according to data.
The amount of disclosure of undisclosed income was Tk 2.25 crore from 1971 to 1975, Tk 50.76 crore from 1976 to 1980, Tk crore 45.89 crore from 1981 to 1990, Tk 150.79 crore from 1991 to 1996, Tk 950.41 crore from 1997 to 2000, Tk 827.74 crore from 2001 to 2006, Tk 1682.99 crore from 2007 to 2009, Tk 1805.01 crore from 2009 to 2013, Tk 11,107.43 crore from 2013 to 2020.
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