The National Board of Revenue has asked the leading trade bodies for not employing unauthorised foreign nationals and sought cooperation from them in collecting tax from every foreigner working legally or illegally in the country. At a meeting with the leaders of five leading trade bodies on the issue held on Tuesday at NBR headquarters, it also decided that income tax wing would conduct drives with the help of central intelligence cell of the NBR against employers of illegal foreigners. Leaders of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry attended the meeting presided over by NBR chairman Md Nojibur Rahman. Officials said that the income tax law empowered the taxmen to impose penalty as much 50 per cent of total payable tax of a employer, or Tk 5 lakh as a fine for employing even a single foreign nationals without work permit from the Board of Investment or other competent authorities. The revenue board will also scrap the tax benefits including tax holiday facility for the companies for violation of the provision, they said. A high official of the NBR told New Age that employers’ leaders at the meeting sought a guideline from the revenue board in this connection mentioning that most of the employers may not be aware about the punitive measures for such employment. Later in a press release, the NBR said that the meeting was arranged as part of increasing awareness among the employers on the issue. It said that many foreign nationals were illegally working in many sectors in the country. Many others were working legally but left the country without paying tax, it said. In this context, intensifying monitoring activities on both legal and illegal foreigners and their employers is most important for collecting applicable income tax which is now 30 per cent from them. The meeting also took some decisions including framing a taskforce consisting of government agencies, establishing a central database on foreign workers, information sharing among the government agencies, arranging awareness campaign for employers and setting up desks at international airports and land ports to check tax payment status of foreigners while leaving the country. At the meeting, Nojibur Rahman said that the revenue board was moving ahead with a set of specific steps and hoped that illegal employment of foreigners will end after implementation of the steps.
