Staff Reporter :
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has cancelled the provision, which allowed taxpayers to whiten black money without scrutiny by paying a 15 percent tax.
The NBR issued a gazette notification on Monday regarding this.
The development comes a few days after Syeda Rizwana Hasan, the environment adviser, told journalists that the interim government would scrap the provision.
On Thursday, the adviser explained that the government had determined that the financial gains from white money were minimal compared to the ethical and societal costs.
Additionally, she confirmed that effective measures against money laundering have already begun.
Earlier on August 18, National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Md. Abdur Rahman Khan strongly criticised the practice of whitening black money, calling it an ‘indecent deed’ and ‘totally unacceptable,’ during a view exchange meeting with his fellow colleagues.
Almost all governments allowed legalisation of black money in the country as a strategy to boost revenue, but the response was negligible.
According to NBR sources, so far about Tk 47,000 crore has been legalised so far.
However, there was no scope to whiten black money during the 1991-96 tenure of the BNP government.
Lastly, in the financial year 2022–23, the opportunity to bring back the money smuggled from the country was given, but no one took this opportunity. A year later, another opportunity was given to whiten black money.