Luxury buildings are being used as a major tax evasion strategy in the elite areas of the capital. Luxury buildings in Gulshan-Banani-Tejgaon-Dhanmondi have become big traps for income tax evasion. Rich people of various professions including businessmen, doctors, and stars are evading crores of tax by hiding information and real prices.The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has uncovered such tax evasion based on bank transactions. The NBR officials found this evidence by analyzing the data of the sale and purchase of commercial and residential space of several buildings. The organization has also taken action to collect the evaded tax. A player of the national cricket team bought a flat in a residential building in Gulshan for Tk 12.4 million. But he did not add this information to the income tax documents. He evaded more than three crore taka in taxes. In the same building, a doctor bought a flat of 4,375 square feet for 13 crores and showed the price as 4.5 crores in the income tax documents. He evaded taxes, more than two crore taka. In another building, a managing director of a private company bought a nine thousand seven hundred square feet flat for Tk 49 crore and showed only Tk 10 crore in the income tax documents. He has evaded tax of about 10 crore taka.
A barrister has evaded 130 million taka by concealing a flat worth 13 million taka. A businessman has hidden the information of a flat worth 28 crore taka.
A securities company has bought commercial space in a building on Gulshan-Tejgaon Link Road for 73 crore taka. But the audit report of the company shows the cost of only 55 lakh taka. The company has evaded taxes of about 18 crore taka.
Another company bought a space worth taka 13 crore but concealed that information in their audit report. By doing this, the company has evaded tax of one hundred and three crore taka. A bicycle manufacturing company has evaded taxes by concealing information of about tk 35 crores. NBR officials have uncovered such tax evasion based on bank transactions.
In this context, Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) senior researcher Toufiqul Islam Khan told the media that the most important thing is how to keep property registration, buying, and selling within the market price.
NBR officials said that investigations are going on in Banani, Dhanmondi, and some other elite areas to identify tax evasion.
Alamgir Hossain, a former member of NBR, said that if the property registration is done properly, NBR will have all the documents. By doing this, the NBR can easily analyze the new documents that are being submitted every day.