TCB Urges Tax Relief: Arrears and Turnover Exemption Sought!

Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) has demanded a waiver of dues and lifetime exemption from turnover tax. Shammi Islam, Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce, demanded this exemption by writing a letter to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) on behalf of TCB. According to the letter, TCB filed returns against income tax due for the tax year 2022-23 and received income tax certificates. But the Office of Excise Commissioner (Circle-244) informed TCB about the arrears of Tk.

According to the letter from the Ministry of Commerce, TCB distributes soybean oil, sugar, lentils, chickpeas, and onions at subsidized prices to the family card holders as per the annual purchase plan to implement the food assistance program for one crore families. In case of import of these products, letters of credit (LC) are opened in government banks and the supplier price is paid by taking a Loan Against Trust Receipt (LTR) from these banks. TCB has to pay a huge amount of interest against these LTRs. Besides, the government gives a huge amount of subsidy to TCB as these products are sold at a lower price than the purchase price. Besides, at the time of payment of the product price, VAT and tax are deducted and submitted to the government treasury through invoices as per the rules. Since TCB sells products at subsidized prices to low-income people, the imposition of turnover tax on such non-profit activities may disrupt the organization’s operations as well as the implementation of the government’s food assistance programs. As a result, the government will have to increase the amount of subsidy. Hence it is necessary to waive the turnover tax imposed by NBR and exempt TCB from turnover tax in future. Ministry informs to take necessary measures to provide exemption from turnover tax.

In this regard, a senior official of NBR’s income tax wing said, ‘We have recently received a letter regarding this from the Ministry of Commerce. We will review the matter as per the provisions of the Income Tax Act and NBR will consider the matter accordingly. But since TCB provides products to the public at subsidized prices, we will take this issue seriously.’

However, the former chairman of NBR in this regard. Mohammad Abdul Majeed said, ‘Turnover tax should not be waived. This will affect revenue and hamper competitive markets. If the tax accounts of government institutions are not included in the NBR, there will be unequal competition in the market. Wherever he does business or manufactures, he has to pay tax. But if his tax figure is higher, then he can discuss it with the government.’