Grameen Telecom has to deposit Tk 50 crore for tax appeal: HC

The High Court (HC) has published its verdict that ordered Nobel Laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus’ Grameen Telecom Trust to deposit Tk50 crore before filing income tax appeals for 2011-12 and 2012-13 tax years.

The 24-page verdict signed by Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar and Justice Sarder Md Rashed Jahangir was published on Thursday.

Dr Yunus’ lawyer Abdullah Al Mamun said they will file an appeal petition against the verdict.

Earlier on January 12, the HC bench of Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar and Justice Sardar Md Rashed Jahangir passed the order, ordering the trust to deposit Tk50 crore filing income tax appeals for 2011-12 and 2012-13 tax years.

In this connection, Assistant Attorney General Barrister Tahmina Poly said: “In November 2020, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) sent a notice to the trust demanding Tk250 crore in income tax for the two years. Later, the trust asked for a waiver as there was no money.”  

After the application was rejected by the NBR, they sought a waiver of income tax. But then they had about Tk400 crore in one account, she said.

The NBR issued a notice asking for income tax money mentioning that there was money in the account. Later, the trust filed a writ petition with the HC challenging the NBR’s notice. The court also issued a rule on why the notice should not be declared illegal. After visiting different courts in the last three years, the case came to the concerned bench of the HC, she added.