Series of unheeded notices
Of the total amount due to the government coffers, Grameenphone owes Tk7.25 crore, Robi owes Tk7.58 crore, while Banglalink must pay Tk8.35 crore.
A notice was sent to the three on July 3, asking them to submit a report of the amount spent on the rent of commercially used space and establishments from January to June of this year. The report was to be submitted within seven days but only Grameenphone did so.
On July 30, the revenue-realising unit sent another notice instructing Robi and Banglalink to submit their reports within three days. The two operators missed this deadline by over a month, finally submitting their reports on September 8.
Analysing the space and establishment rent expenditure reports of the three mobile operators, LTU-VAT found that the three did not pay a total of Tk23.18 crore in VAT.
The September 20 demand notes told the three firms to pay the dues or else inform the LTU-VAT as to why they would not pay the money, or to send any representative of their companies within 15 days if they wanted a hearing on the notice.
Assistant Commissioner of Taxes (ACT) Md Badruzzaman Munshi told Dhaka Tribune: “We have sent demand notes to the three mobile operators to pay the evaded tax. If they fail to pay by the deadline, we will take further steps in this regard.”Evasion or dispute?
When contacted, the mobile operators’ authorities claimed that this is not evasion but “a dispute between them and the NBR”.
Grameenphone denied the allegation, saying: “We have not received any official letter or show-cause from NBR, therefore, we cannot comment on this matter.”
Banglalink Communications Director Asif Ahmed said his firm had acted within the current legislation.
“As per the VAT Act 1991, VAT on commercial space rent should be paid by service providers (house owners) instead of service recipients (such as Banglalink),” he said. “We have received a demand notice regarding this from NBR and shall duly provide our reply to the authority.”
Robi was also on the right side of the law, according to company spokesperson Ekram Kabir.
“We have challenged the arbitrary imposition of VAT on commercial premises in 2011, as we firmly believe that imposition of VAT on commercial premises goes against the principle of the VAT law,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.
“Since 2011, NBR has changed legal provisions three times to justify this illegal imposition and related demands, even when the matters were in the court. We still believe that such imposition is wrong and we are waiting for the court’s decision in this matter.”
Allegations against the mobile operators of evading VAT on rent of commercial space and establishment was also made on July 2011-June 2015.
At that time Grameenphone, Robi, and Banglalink reportedly evaded VAT of Tk19.6 crore, Tk13.38 crore, and Tk34.4 crore respectively, said an NBR official.
