Despite missing collection targets annually, resolving disputed revenue claims in Bangladesh's top court crawls -- leading to massive backlogs awaiting settlement.
A renowned telecom company, for nearly a decade, has been known for its dispute with the National Board of Revenue (NBR) as they remain unresolved despite the case appearing on the High Court (HC) cause list for hearing for 275 days.
It all began when the mobile phone operator imported 360,000 SIM cards at a declared value of $145,800.
However, the customs authority assessed the value much higher at $496,800.
The company appealed to the Commissioner of Customs House in Dhaka to release the goods based on their declared value, securing the disputed amount with a bank guarantee.
The goods were released in 2010, with a guarantee of Tk2.14 crore.
Following the release, the company pursued a resolution through the customs review committee, the Customs, Excise and VAT Appellate Tribunal and finally the HC.
In 2014, the HC directed the company to prepare for a hearing within three months. But even after a decade, the dispute remains unsettled with hearings adjourned repeatedly.
The mobile operator case is not an isolated incident as most tax-related cases filed with the higher courts face similar delays -- languishing in the system for years, shows Supreme Court data.
In 2023, HC benches disposed of only 13 customs appeals, while 1,147 new cases were filed.
As of December 2023, a backlog of 7,072 customs appeals awaited resolution.
The situation is no better for income tax cases.
Only 132 references were disposed of in 2023, while 490 new ones were filed.
By December, a hefty 8,115 income tax references remained pending before the HC benches.
The number of value-added tax (VAT) revision cases remained stagnant at 180 from January to December 2023 -- with zero disposals.
Only 15 VAT appeal cases were settled in 2023, while 409 new ones were filed.
The backlog stood at 1,487 by year-end.
According to the National Board of Revenue (NBR), VAT-related cases alone held up Tk23,940 crore as of December 2023.
Including income tax and customs disputes, this figure would undoubtedly be much higher.