Bangladesh: GB gets tax waiver for Jan-June of 2011

Dhaka, July 14, 2014 (New Age): The National Board of Revenue has decided to grant Grameen Bank exemption from tax on its income for the period of six months with retrospective effect from January 2011 to June 2011, officials said.
They said that the NBR at a recent board meeting decided to provide the exemption in a bid to remove the complexities Grameen Bank was facing in preparing financial statements for the period.
Earlier, the revenue board had rejected a plea made by the Nobel-winning microfinance institution seeking exemption from tax on its income for the period.
Now, the revenue board has backtracked from its earlier decision in line with the government’s softened stance on the issue, officials said.
Officials said that Grameen Bank had enjoyed tax exemption facility from its inception in 1983 to December 2010.
But the decision of extending the facility to Grameen Bank was pending until June 2012 when the NBR had again provided tax exemption facility for four years and six months until December 2015 with retrospective effect from July 2011, they said.
In the process, the period from January 2011 to June 2011 had been left out of the exemption facility.
Grameen Bank earlier had paid Tk 10 crore in advance income tax in the fiscal year 2011-2012 amid uncertainty about getting exemption because of delay in decision of the government at that time.
Later the bank in several times sought the exemption for the period saying that it had already completed its annual financial statement for the year 2011 following January-December as financial year.
If the tax exemption is not provided, the bank will have to prepare half-yearly financial statement based on credit and deposit accounts of the 84 lakh members of the bank which is time-consuming, tough and problematic for the bank, Grameen Bank claimed.
Officials said that that considering these problems, the revenue board took the decision of allowing the exemption for the period.
On the other hand, the institution enjoyed and is enjoying the tax exemption in pre and post period of the six months, they said.
The revenue board, however, will not give back the money paid as advance tax by Grameen Bank as the current exemption period is scheduled to expire in December 2015, officials said.
They said that the money would be adjusted with the payable tax of the institution if the revenue board would not extend the exemption period.