Income tax, gratuity of journos: HC scraps cabinet committee’s recommendations

The High Court yesterday scrapped two recommendations made by the cabinet committee in the 9th wage board, regarding the income tax and gratuity of journalists and employees of newspapers and news agencies.

In the 12th chapter of the wage board, the committee in September 2019 recommended that the journalists and employees themselves will pay their income taxes and they will get only one gratuity in place of two in a year.

The bench of Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam and Justice Md Shohrowardi delivered the verdict following a petition filed by Md Mahabubuzzan, secretary general of Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha Employees Union, in November 2020, challenging the legality cabinet committee's recommendations.

Following the HC verdict, the recommendations made by the 9th wage board led by Justice Md Nizamul Huq Nasim in 2018 will be effective, and therefore, the owners of the newspapers and news agencies will pay the income tax of the journalists, press workers and administrative employees and they will be given two gratuities as fringe benefits in a year, said petitioner's lawyer Dr Kazi Aktar Hamid.

Senior lawyer Aktar Hamid said the recommendations are contradictory to the proposals of the wage board.