The National Board of Revenue has decided to develop a data-bank with
issuing temporary registration numbers (TRN) to foreigners coming to
Bangladesh to track the duration of their stay in the country.
Officials of the revenue board said that the TRN would be used to trail the foreigners from their entrance to departure from the country to check whether they have paid income tax, if they earn here.
According to the income tax law, a foreign national is required to open income tax file if he or she lives in the country for 90 days in a year.
Foreigners will also have to furnish income tax clearance certificate at the immigration check points for leaving the country.
‘But in most cases, foreign nationals working in Bangladesh leave the country just two or three days before 90 days of their stay in the country and few days after they again enter to the country to avoid opening income tax file and evade tax,’ a high official of the NBR told New Age on Sunday.
The proposed data-bank to be maintained under a customized software system will help the revenue board to trace their movement to and out of the country, he said adding that such suspected foreigners will come under special monitoring of the tax authorities.
Currently, the NBR has no mechanism to trace the duration of stay of a foreigner in the country and crosscheck the data bank of other agencies.
The NBR has recently formed an 11-memebr technical committee headed by income tax commissioner Sanjit Kumar Biswas to coordinate procurement of the data-bank maintenance software.
The committee will coordinate hiring a software developer firm and supervise the outsourcing process.
The data bank will be interlinked with the immigration authorities and the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority to detect the tax evading foreigners.
A NBR official said that currently BIDA, formerly Board of Investment, maintains a database of foreign nationals who take work permit from the body while immigration department also collects the information from foreigners while they enter the country.
But there is no comprehensive data bank for tax collection purpose resulting in huge tax evasion by the foreign nationals, he said.
Under the plan, a TRN will be provided to a foreigner while immigration department will collect his or her particulars.
Income tax officials deployed at the income tax desks at immigration points will assist the immigration officials.
Many developed countries follow the procedures to prevent tax evasion by foreign nationals.
According to various sources, there are several lakh of foreigners mainly from India, Sri Lanka and some western countries living and working in Bangladesh in readymade garment industry, buying houses, IT and manufacturing sectors.
Of them, only on an average 12,000 have income tax files with the income tax offices across the country and around 8,000 file tax returns annually.
Around 12,000 foreigners work in the country taking work permit from the BIDA.The National Board of Revenue has decided to develop a data-bank with issuing temporary registration numbers (TRN) to foreigners coming to Bangladesh to track the duration of their stay in the country. Officials of the revenue board said that the TRN would be used to trail the foreigners from their entrance to departure from the country to check whether they have paid income tax, if they earn here. According to the income tax law, a foreign national is required to open income tax file if he or she lives in the country for 90 days in a year. Foreigners will also have to furnish income tax clearance certificate at the immigration check points for leaving the country. ‘But in most cases, foreign nationals working in Bangladesh leave the country just two or three days before 90 days of their stay in the country and few days after they again enter to the country to avoid opening income tax file and evade tax,’ a high official of the NBR told New Age on Sunday. The proposed data-bank to be maintained under a customized software system will help the revenue board to trace their movement to and out of the country, he said adding that such suspected foreigners will come under special monitoring of the tax authorities. Currently, the NBR has no mechanism to trace the duration of stay of a foreigner in the country and crosscheck the data bank of other agencies. The NBR has recently formed an 11-memebr technical committee headed by income tax commissioner Sanjit Kumar Biswas to coordinate procurement of the data-bank maintenance software. The committee will coordinate hiring a software developer firm and supervise the outsourcing process. The data bank will be interlinked with the immigration authorities and the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority to detect the tax evading foreigners. A NBR official said that currently BIDA, formerly Board of Investment, maintains a database of foreign nationals who take work permit from the body while immigration department also collects the information from foreigners while they enter the country. But there is no comprehensive data bank for tax collection purpose resulting in huge tax evasion by the foreign nationals, he said. Under the plan, a TRN will be provided to a foreigner while immigration department will collect his or her particulars. Income tax officials deployed at the income tax desks at immigration points will assist the immigration officials. Many developed countries follow the procedures to prevent tax evasion by foreign nationals. According to various sources, there are several lakh of foreigners mainly from India, Sri Lanka and some western countries living and working in Bangladesh in readymade garment industry, buying houses, IT and manufacturing sectors. Of them, only on an average 12,000 have income tax files with the income tax offices across the country and around 8,000 file tax returns annually. Around 12,000 foreigners work in the country taking work permit from the BIDA.
Officials of the revenue board said that the TRN would be used to trail the foreigners from their entrance to departure from the country to check whether they have paid income tax, if they earn here.
According to the income tax law, a foreign national is required to open income tax file if he or she lives in the country for 90 days in a year.
Foreigners will also have to furnish income tax clearance certificate at the immigration check points for leaving the country.
‘But in most cases, foreign nationals working in Bangladesh leave the country just two or three days before 90 days of their stay in the country and few days after they again enter to the country to avoid opening income tax file and evade tax,’ a high official of the NBR told New Age on Sunday.
The proposed data-bank to be maintained under a customized software system will help the revenue board to trace their movement to and out of the country, he said adding that such suspected foreigners will come under special monitoring of the tax authorities.
Currently, the NBR has no mechanism to trace the duration of stay of a foreigner in the country and crosscheck the data bank of other agencies.
The NBR has recently formed an 11-memebr technical committee headed by income tax commissioner Sanjit Kumar Biswas to coordinate procurement of the data-bank maintenance software.
The committee will coordinate hiring a software developer firm and supervise the outsourcing process.
The data bank will be interlinked with the immigration authorities and the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority to detect the tax evading foreigners.
A NBR official said that currently BIDA, formerly Board of Investment, maintains a database of foreign nationals who take work permit from the body while immigration department also collects the information from foreigners while they enter the country.
But there is no comprehensive data bank for tax collection purpose resulting in huge tax evasion by the foreign nationals, he said.
Under the plan, a TRN will be provided to a foreigner while immigration department will collect his or her particulars.
Income tax officials deployed at the income tax desks at immigration points will assist the immigration officials.
Many developed countries follow the procedures to prevent tax evasion by foreign nationals.
According to various sources, there are several lakh of foreigners mainly from India, Sri Lanka and some western countries living and working in Bangladesh in readymade garment industry, buying houses, IT and manufacturing sectors.
Of them, only on an average 12,000 have income tax files with the income tax offices across the country and around 8,000 file tax returns annually.
Around 12,000 foreigners work in the country taking work permit from the BIDA.The National Board of Revenue has decided to develop a data-bank with issuing temporary registration numbers (TRN) to foreigners coming to Bangladesh to track the duration of their stay in the country. Officials of the revenue board said that the TRN would be used to trail the foreigners from their entrance to departure from the country to check whether they have paid income tax, if they earn here. According to the income tax law, a foreign national is required to open income tax file if he or she lives in the country for 90 days in a year. Foreigners will also have to furnish income tax clearance certificate at the immigration check points for leaving the country. ‘But in most cases, foreign nationals working in Bangladesh leave the country just two or three days before 90 days of their stay in the country and few days after they again enter to the country to avoid opening income tax file and evade tax,’ a high official of the NBR told New Age on Sunday. The proposed data-bank to be maintained under a customized software system will help the revenue board to trace their movement to and out of the country, he said adding that such suspected foreigners will come under special monitoring of the tax authorities. Currently, the NBR has no mechanism to trace the duration of stay of a foreigner in the country and crosscheck the data bank of other agencies. The NBR has recently formed an 11-memebr technical committee headed by income tax commissioner Sanjit Kumar Biswas to coordinate procurement of the data-bank maintenance software. The committee will coordinate hiring a software developer firm and supervise the outsourcing process. The data bank will be interlinked with the immigration authorities and the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority to detect the tax evading foreigners. A NBR official said that currently BIDA, formerly Board of Investment, maintains a database of foreign nationals who take work permit from the body while immigration department also collects the information from foreigners while they enter the country. But there is no comprehensive data bank for tax collection purpose resulting in huge tax evasion by the foreign nationals, he said. Under the plan, a TRN will be provided to a foreigner while immigration department will collect his or her particulars. Income tax officials deployed at the income tax desks at immigration points will assist the immigration officials. Many developed countries follow the procedures to prevent tax evasion by foreign nationals. According to various sources, there are several lakh of foreigners mainly from India, Sri Lanka and some western countries living and working in Bangladesh in readymade garment industry, buying houses, IT and manufacturing sectors. Of them, only on an average 12,000 have income tax files with the income tax offices across the country and around 8,000 file tax returns annually. Around 12,000 foreigners work in the country taking work permit from the BIDA.
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