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15 individuals, 19 firms keep topping NBR’s honours chart

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The National Board of Revenue (NBR) introduced tax cards more than a decade ago and expanded its associated list from fiscal 2015-16 to recognise compliant taxpayers in various sectors and professions.

An analysis shows that 15 individuals and 19 conglomerates have been winning the recognition as top taxpayers of the country for the past straight six years.

The individuals are Md Kaus Mia, a businessman; Golam Dastagir Gazi, another businessman; Mahfuz Anam, editor and publisher of The Daily Star; Matiur Rahman, editor of the Prothom Alo; Mohammad Abdul Malek, editor of the Dainik Azadi; Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, a lawyer; and Pran Gopal Dutta, a physician.

The individuals also include Drug International’s Khwaja Tajmahal, MA Haider Hussain, Mohammad Yusuf, Hosne Ara Hossain, Rubaiyat Farzana Hossain, Laila Hossain, Palmal Group of Industries Managing Director Nafis Sikder, and national cricketer Tamim Iqbal Khan.

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Yesterday, they were among the 75 individuals who were honoured by the NBR for the payment of the highest amount of taxes for 2020-21. The tax administration also recognised 54 companies.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal inaugurated the award presentation event organised at the Officers’ Club Dhaka.

Among the 19 companies are Islami Bank Bangladesh, Standard Chartered Bank, HSBC, Grameenphone, Nestlé Bangladesh, Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company, Unilever Bangladesh, British American Tobacco Bangladesh, Coats Bangladesh, American Life Insurance Company, Square Pharmaceuticals, and Apex Footwear.

The remaining ones are Mediastar Ltd, Transcraft Ltd, Badsha Textiles Mills, Noman Terry Towel Mills, Rifat Garments, SN Corporation, and ASBS.

Mediaworld Ltd, Infrastructure Development Company Ltd, Bay Developments Ltd, Bata Shoe Company (Bangladesh) Ltd, and Lalmai Footwear won the recognition for the fifth consecutive year.

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“We are delighted to be able to play our part in supporting the incredible growth-journey of our nation,” said Naser Ezaz Bijoy, chief executive officer of Standard Chartered Bangladesh, after receiving the tax card.

“As one of the longest-serving financial institutions of Bangladesh and the largest international bank in the country, it has always been our mission to serve as a partner in progress to our nation.”

“We are grateful and would like to express our humble recognition of the vital role the institution is playing in Bangladesh’s sustainable development through driving domestic resource mobilisation, by embracing technology and progressive policy formulation.”

AK Azad, managing director of Rifat Garments, says he is feeling encouraged.

“Our exports are rising continuously, so we are honoured to get the recognition for our contribution to the country.”

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“I pay tax as I make a profit,” Kaus Mia, owner of Hakimpuri Jarda, told The Daily Star recently.

“I pay tax because it is a good thing to do. How will the state bear its expenses if we don’t pay tax?”

“We remain committed to continuing our contribution towards the economic development of the country alongside providing world-class financial protection to the people,” Ala Ahmad, chief executive officer of MetLife Bangladesh, told The Daily Star.

“Insurance is vital for sustained economic growth, and we are honoured to represent the insurance sector as one of the major contributing sectors for Bangladesh’s ongoing prosperous journey.”

The government’s recognition is a true testament to Unilever’s continuous contribution to the internal revenue of Bangladesh, said Zaved Akhtar, chief executive officer and managing director of Unilever Bangladesh.

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“We will continue our partnership with the government and larger ecosystem and fuel the growth momentum and progress toward our vision of a developed country by 2041.”

“We are on a mission to bring real change, improve people’s lives and protect nature,” he added.

Syed Md Aminul Karim, a former member for income tax policy at the NBR, said companies continuing to top the list of the largest taxpayers indicated that they had good corporate practices.

And it appears that they play a responsible role in society, he said.

But a large number of firms with a good amount of income continues to remain outside the scanner of the tax authority for its lack of capacity to dig deeper to assess actual incomes.

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“The same is also true for many individuals who earn a lot but show little in their tax returns,” said Karim, now an adjunct faculty of the banking and insurance department of the University of Dhaka.

Recalling his experiences, he mentioned a taxpayer who showed Tk 3 lakh as annual income but was later found to be paying Tk 10 lakh in tuition fees for his children at an international school in Dhaka.

“We are yet to tax the incomes from land and flat sales properly,” he said, suggesting tax officials track the expenditure of individuals to assess actual incomes.

Md Kamrul Hassan, chief financial officer of Transcom Ltd, received the tax card, crest and a certificate of honour from NBR Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem on behalf of Transcraft.

He also received the same on behalf of the late Latifur Rahman and his wife Shahnaz Rahman, the current chairman of Transcom Group.

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Matiur Rahman received a tax card, crest and certificate of honour. He also received the same on behalf of Mediastar.

Uzma Chowdhury, director (finance) at Pran-RFL Group, accepted the award on behalf of Pran Dairy.

Shykh Seraj, a director and head of news of Channel i, received the recognition on behalf of Faridur Reza Sagar, the company’s managing director.

In the print and electronic media category, Somoy Media and East West Media Group were named as the highest taxpayers.

The finance minister said Bangladesh was doing well in all economic indicators, including revenue earnings.

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He requested people to participate more and more in paying taxes to build a Golden Bengal.

Md Jashim Uddin, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, urged the authorities to ensure that tax card-holders were provided privileges as mentioned in the tax card policy.

“We appeal for considering the issue of withdrawal of advance income tax to facilitate business,” he said.

Jashim stressed ensuring transparency and accountability and suggested identifying new and well-off people to increase tax receipts.

“Discretionary powers of taxmen also needs to be reduced to bring new taxpayers under the tax net.”

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NBR Chairman Rahmatul Muneem said it would be possible to cut tax rates if an increased number of taxpayers came under the tax net.

“We are working on digitalisation and simplification of rules so that taxpayers can pay tax with ease.” 

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Smart Technologies syndicate sips millions of dollars from IDRA automation

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A syndicate led by Smart Technologies, backed by former finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal’s daughter Nafisa Kamal, has allegedly siphoned off millions of dollars from a foreign-funded project of the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA).
Despite the $67 million project aimed at developing Bangladesh’s insurance sector, no tangible improvement in financial security has been observed, according to a media investigation.
A few companies, including Smart Technologies and eGeneration, have reportedly misappropriated project funds, with Nafisa Kamal positioned as the frontwoman, sources confirmed.
The World Bank-funded IDRA project was designed to enhance the administrative and documentation capacities of insurance institutions by increasing the use of technology.

A source revealed that the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Department (IMED) of the planning ministry could not take any action on the project due to Smart Technologies’ association with Nafisa Kamal. Consequently, most of the funds from the insurance development project were smuggled abroad in a ‘very systematic way’.
The Smart Technologies-led syndicate in the insurance sector development project included Nafisa Kamal’s NK Solutions, China-based Sinosoft, CNS, and Shameem Ahsan’s eGeneration. Project sources revealed that project management specialist Nazrul Islam Bhuiyan coordinated the entire process from IDRA to extract dollars.

Project Director Md Kamruzzaman reportedly refrained from opposing the syndicate, allegedly due to his ambition for a promotion in government service. He seemingly operated as a close ally of Nafisa Kamal. Project documents reveal that Nafisa Kamal got the IDRA project approved by showing joint ownership with almost every participating institution.
On 22 May 2023, project officials approved a contract for $1.21 million for a joint venture between NK Solutions and eGeneration, led by BASIS’s former president Shameem Ahsan.
In addition to this, Shameem and Nafisa’s syndicate received a further Tk17.7 million in local currency. Despite this substantial withdrawal, there has been no visible improvement in the research facilities at the Bangladesh Insurance Academy in Mohakhali.

On 30 March 2022, Project Director Kamruzzaman approved Smart Technologies as the second-lowest bidder (L-2) for the supply of IT and supporting network infrastructure, servers, and storage for the first phase of $10.3 million. In this phase, an additional Tk 26.3 million was allocated to Smart Technologies, which has flourished over the past decade with backing from the Awami League.
In February 2023, a further $9.68 million was awarded to Smart Technologies for IT infrastructure support for IDRA, general insurance, and life insurance. Again, Smart Technologies was the second-lowest bidder (L-2). According to project sources, Smart Technologies secured the entire sum despite completing less than 20% of the technical support required.
At the end of the last fiscal year, on 20 June, Smart Technologies signed a joint venture agreement with NK Solutions and Sinosoft, valued at $76 million. An additional Tk 23.1 million was allocated to the project in local currency.

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On 21 August 2022, Chinese company Sinosoft received $11.1 million for developing the project’s website, customer relationship management system, and call centre. On the same day, Sinosoft was awarded an additional $9.17 million for insurance management software known as RegTech.
On 31 May 2022, another technology company, Computer Network System (CNS), was awarded Tk230.4 million for enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and email management. However, CNS failed to provide the original software licenses, contributing to the misappropriation of project funds.
On 24 May 2022, a joint venture between India’s Xerox India and Bangladesh’s IOE was approved for a $54 million contract to supply a ‘Document Management System’. In this phase, the syndicate received an additional Tk173.6 million.

It has been discovered that this money from the insurance project was invested by Shameem Ahsan, who is favoured by Salman F Rahman, in capital market generation. Gaining proximity to Hasina as the president of BASIS, he eventually became a director of the state-owned Agrani Bank.
According to project documents, on 21 December 2023, Project Director Kamruzzaman approved a $1.71 million contract for the supply of cybersecurity, ransomware, and endpoint protection products to Nafisa Kamal’s joint venture company NK Solutions, Express Systems, and Aspire Tech Services, with a 28-day deadline. In this phase, the syndicate received an additional Tk5.8 million.
Although official figures indicate lower amounts, investigations suggest that Tk8 billion from this project was diverted to Smart Technologies and Nafisa Kamal’s NK Solutions. Despite the three-year duration of the insurance development project, officials from IDRA confirm that the state of the financial security sector remains unchanged.

Following the fall of the Awami League government on 5 August 2024, Mustafa Kamal, also known as Lotus Kamal, and his daughter Nafisa Kamal moved to Singapore with their family.
“The World Bank project for insurance development has not progressed, but the funds are being withdrawn. Additionally, foreign software firms are involved, meaning money is being siphoned out of the country,” said a former president of the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), on condition of anonymity.
This former BASIS president suggested that if domestic firms were responsible for the technical support and software development for the insurance sector, the equivalent of $30 million could have been saved.
Nafisa Kamal and Smart Technologies Chairman Mazharul Islam, Managing Director Zahirul Islam did not respond to phone calls regarding the irregularities in the project.

Source:Daily Sun

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BSEC chairman Shibli Rubayat resigns

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Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Prof Shibli Rubayat-Ul Islam resigned today.

He sent his resignation letter to the official concerned at the finance ministry.

He stepped down citing health reasons, said Abdur Rahman, secretary of the Financial Institutions Division of the Ministry of Finance, confirming receipt of the letter.

The development came five days after Sheikh Hasina’s government fell and she fled Bangladesh in the face of a civil uprising.

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Islam has remained absent from work for the past several days.

Islam, a Dhaka University teacher, was appointed as chairman of the BSEC in 2020. Last May, he was reappointed for another four-year tenure.

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Progressive Life Insurance Company organizes 199th Board Meeting

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The 199th board meeting of Progressive life Insurance Company Limited (PLICL) was held in the organization’s corporate office in the capital’s National Scout Bhaban on Wednesday 10 July 2024. It was presided over by PLICL Acting Chairman M. Shoeb Chowdhury.

The meeting was also attended by Directors viz Bajloor Rashid, MBE, Zakariya Ahad,Mezanur Rahman,DR. Md. Jamil Sharif, Phd, FCMA,DR. Tazrina Farah,Babel Miah,Kamal Miah, M A Karim,Gulam Mostafa Ahmed. Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Md. Saidul Amin, Additional Managing Director Md. Mizanur Rahman Shipon, Senior Executive Vice President & Company Secretary Abdullah Al Mansur.

The participants in the meeting talked about pending claim settlements, business development plans and laid emphasis on complying with regulatory norms, laws and principals.

The officials of Progressive life Insurance Company Limited greeted the newly appointed Acting Chairman M. Shoeb Chowdhury with flowers at the beginning of the meeting.

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