The National Board of Revenue has set up income tax desks at four immigration check posts to check tax evasion by foreigners during their stay in the country. The desks have been set up at the country’s three international airports—Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong and Osmani International Airport in Sylhet—and at the Benapole Land Port, officials of the NBR said. They said that income tax officials deployed at the desks would examine the authenticity of the tax clearance certificates required for foreign nationals before leaving the country.Taxmen will ensure realisation of income tax applicable for the foreigners on their income in the country if they do not pay the tax properly, they added. Tax officials will also take action against the foreigners showing forged tax clearance certificates. here are allegations that many foreign nationals leave the country without paying income tax on their income generated in Bangladesh. There is a mandatory provision in the Income Tax Ordinance-1984 that foreigners leaving Bangladesh must submit the tax clearance certificates obtained from the field level income tax offices to get clearance from immigration.In many cases, foreigners submit forged certificates at the immigration check posts but immigration officials could not detect the forgery due to lack of knowledge about income tax rules.The newly established desks will prevent tax dodging by foreigners as none of them will be allowed to leave the country without showing genuine tax clearance certificates, a high official of the revenue board said. A foreign worker will have to show certificate at the desk before leaving the country, he said, adding that tax officials deployed at the desks will verify the certificate to confirm whether the foreign workers paid tax on their income which is now 30 per cent.The desks were established following the decision of the National Steering Committee on Collection of Income Tax on Foreign Workers. The steering committee headed by NBR chairman Md Nojibur Rahman took the decision on June 9. NBR member (tax administration and human resources management) Md Abdur Razzak on June 29 asked the commissioners of tax zone 11 in Dhaka, tax zone-2 in Chittagong, tax zone in Sylhet and tax zone in Khulna to implement the decision. A foreign national needs to open tax file if he or she stays in Bangladesh for a period of 182 days or more in a year, or stays 90 days or more in a year after staying 365 days in previous four years. According to different agencies, including the Special Branch of police, more than 4 lakh foreigners are working in Bangladesh and most of them are illegal as they don’t have work permit given by the Board of Investment and permission from other competent agencies including Bangladesh Export Processing Zone and NGO Affairs Bureau. But around 12,000 foreign nationals on an average receive work permits from the BoI every year. A few thousand more foreigners also work in the country with permission from BEPZA and a few hundred with permission from the NGO Affairs Bureau, the revenue board officials said. Most of the illegal foreigners are from neighbouring India, Pakistan, China and Sri Lanka, and many from the African and Western countries who have been engaged in different sectors including textiles, manufacturing, ICT and services.
