The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has decided to pay special attention to the foreigners working in the country so that they cannot dodge tax payment.
The directive came from NBR chairman M Nojibur Rahman in a recent meeting with the field level officials, reports UNB.
"There are allegations that the service holder foreigners evade taxes by not submitting their income tax returns or show less salaries and allowances in their income tax returns," a senior NBR official told the news agency.
To check the irregularities the NBR chairman has given the instruction to show zero tolerance towards the tax evaders-local and foreigners alike, he added.
There are also allegations that the employers took the path of money laundering to pay the salary and allowances of foreign workers.
Some foreigners change their address after entering the country taking the scope of on arrival visa.
The NBR has taken a decision on intensifying its intelligence activities for curbing tax evasion by the foreign nationals.
The NBR chairman in the meeting asked Central Intelligence Cell (CIC), Customs Intelligence and VAT Intelligence to work in a coordinated way to check the malpractice.
"The NBR has the information that a good number of foreign nationals are staying in the country without valid documents and engaged in services in various trades. Taking this chance, the local business houses don't give information about their foreign employees to the NBR. And for this, the country is deprived of taxes," the NBR official said.
To stop income tax evasion by the foreigners, a new section has also been added to the Income Tax Ordinance in 2015-16 under which one will be jailed for three months to three years and will be penalised Tk 500,000 or both if he/she appoints any foreigner without prior permission from the authorities concerned. The companies will also lose tax holiday or exemption benefits.
Currently, around 450,000 foreign nationals, mostly from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, China, Taiwan, South Korea and some European and African countries are working legally or illegally in Bangladesh.
They are now working at different non-government organisations (NGOs), hotels, restaurants, educational institutions, garments, hospitals and various industries when only 11,000 of them are paying the income tax regularly, according to the NBR sources.
All the foreigners are bound to pay 30 per cent tax on their income.
Besides, many of them are working in the country without any work permit and leaving the country secretly without paying their due taxes.
Officials alleged that some unscrupulous employers also help their foreign workers evade their taxes as they work on a temporary basis, renewing their work permits every three months.
According to the Board of Investment data, nearly 12,000 foreigners receive work permits from the authority each year.
Last year, the NBR formed two task forces in Dhaka and Chittagong, comprising representatives of civil aviation, NSI, Special Branch, DGFI and other related ministries of the government, aiming to bring the foreign nationals working in Bangladesh under the tax net.
A member of the taskforce in Dhaka said that they are working on preparing a database of the foreign nationals to find out their actual number in Bangladesh.
This database will include the name, passport number, address of the working place, address in Bangladesh, type of work, salary and allowances and income tax payment.
Meanwhile, the NBR has introduced special income tax cells at three international airports - Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong, MAG Osmani International Airport in Sylhet - and a land port at Benapole in Jessore for ensuring that all foreign workers and employees pay income tax before leaving the country.
Under the Income Tax Ordinance, foreigners have to pay income tax on a portion of their income if they stay and work in the country for 90 days a year.
