HC directs Grameen Kalyan to pay income tax of Tk 119 core

High Court

The High Court Division today upheld the government's claim of Tk 119 crore in income tax from Grameen Kalyan, a nonprofit charitable company founded by Nobel Laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus.

The apex court verdict means Grameen Kalyan now must pay Tk 119 core as income tax to the state for seven tax years since 2011-2012.

The High Court bench of Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar and Justice Sardar Md Rashed Jahangir delivered the verdict after hearing on seven income tax reference applications filed by Grameen Kalyan challenging the legality of the claims made by the government as income tax from the company for the fiscal years.

The details of the High Court verdict will be known once its full text is released.

However, Assistant Attorney General Tahmina Poly told the media that the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has claimed Tk 555.94 crore as income tax from Grameen Kalyan for the fiscal years of 2011-2012 to 2016-2017.

Grameen Kalyan has paid Tk 436.65 crore as the income tax and it has to pay the rest Tk 119.29 crore as the income tax to the state following the apex court verdict, she said.

Tahmina said the Deputy Commissioner of Taxes will issue a notice giving a time limit to Grameen Kalyan for the payment of due income tax.

Meanwhile, Grameen Kalyan's lawyer Sarder Jinnat Ali told the media that the court has rejected the income tax reference applications filed by his client although all the documents, including the relevant audit reports, have been produced before the court, as those were not submitted before the Taxes Appellate Tribunal during hearing its appeals earlier.

Grameen Kalyan will now may decide whether it will move any appeal before the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, he said.

However, Advocate Sarder Jinnat Ali could not specifically say the amount of money that will be paid by the Grameen Kalyan. - Special Correspondent