That a tax commissioner has been caught red handed misusing her powers to pardon several large companies from not paying their due taxes is, to put it mildly, concerning.
The case of Waheeda Rahman Choudhury, a former commissioner of large taxpayers' unit of value-added tax (VAT) at the National Board of Revenue is the unfortunate reality when it comes to our tax system, where a culture of corruption and needless bureaucracy has long prevailed.
According to a recent Dhaka Tribune report, Waheeda Rahman Choudhury had waived unpaid interests for four mobile phone operators, with Grameenphone Limited being exempted from paying Tk58,64,88,697 in six files, Banglalink Digital Communication Limited Tk57,88,53,051 in seven files, Robi Axiata at Tk14,94,16,688, and Airtel Bangladesh Limited at Tk20,53,30,952. The total comes to a figure of Tk152 crore.
It is incredibly unfair that large corporations are consistently allowed to cheat the system and depriving the nation of vast amounts of money this way.
Which is an absolutely shame. Taxes form an incredibly important part of revenue collection and the reason why our tax net is so narrow is due to the public’s general lack of trust in the system -- with such brazenly corrupt officials mishandling operations for their own gains, is it any wonder why no one pays their taxes?
Yes, it is most definitely commendable that the accused is now being investigated by the Anti-Corruption Commission over her impropriety, but it is entirely possible that looking through our wider tax infrastructure with a fine-tooth comb would reveal far more of such unscrupulous men and women.
Tax bureaucrats who regularly ask for bribes have to be brought to book and our tax infrastructure needs to be more transparent.
