Telecom operators lash out at NBR
The Association of Mobile Telecommunications Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB) yesterday dubbed the National Board of Revenue whimsical for imposing various taxes on the telecom sector. In a post-budget reaction, the AMTOB leaders demanded withdrawal of all new taxes imposed on the sector in the proposed budget for 201617. They also said that the NBRs policy formulation and tax collection divisions should be separated as the revenue board changes the tax policy to benefit itself.
The NBR is imposing taxes whimsically on the telecom industry despite the fact that the sector is one of the key earning sources of the government, AMTOB secretary general TIM Nurul Kabir said at a briefing at a city hotel.
When the finance minister was reading out the budget in Parliament, the NBR on that day sent out the statutory regulatory order on 2 per cent supplementary duty on mobile phone use, he said. The finance minister had proposed to increase the supplementary duty to 5 per cent from the existing 3 per cent, which became effective on June 2. Nurul Kabir said last week, the telecom industrys representatives met the NBR with their budget demands. But the NBR said we could go to court with our demands, but it would change nothing, he complained. Terming the higher corporate tax on the telecom sector discriminatory, AMTOB said that the government should align the industry with others. AMTOB also demanded that minimum corporate tax should remain at 0.3 per cent, which the government has proposed to increase to 0.75 per cent.
