A Correspondent :
29th September, 2017 may be called Chittagong City dwellers day. On that day City dwellers in thousands paraded the City streets chanting slogans against imposition of exuberantly high rate of holding tax by Chittagong City Corporation under the mayoralty of Alhaj AJM Nasiruddin.
People flowing like flood waters, from almost all the forty one wards, soon turned Kadamtali meeting place into a vast sea of masses.
They thundered slogans which revealed their unanimous rejection of the corporation’s tax assessment and gazette publication to that effect, as well as, their solid determination not to pay the unjustified and illegal taxation decided upon by a person or a group of persons to satisfy their ambitious personal agenda.
Being asked how the present incumbent mayor is different from his earlier counterparts, one Yonus Chowdhury who is an owner of a five storied building located at Chawlkbazar told this correspondent that, “during the tenure of Alhaj Mohiuddin Chy and
Monzurul Alam Manzu as mayors of Chittagong City Corporation the inhabitants of the City used to pay holding tax on the basis of the floor measured in terms square feet, and yet the house owner had a right to appeal against any misjudgement or wrong done to the petitioners.
As a matter of fact the authority almost always took a liberal view of the complainant’s objection. But AJM Nasir Uddin, at present mayor of Chittagong City Corporation, showing abysmal ignorance to the impoverished and downtrodden city dwellers without any discussion or public hearing, all an a sudden, made a declaration in the newspaper that city corporation is going to introduce a new holding tax policy based on the rents collected by a landlord, Zamnider, in Chittagong colloquial. Supposedly, you own a three stored building. According to the newly introduced tax policy you have to pay tax against total amount of money you can earn against the three storied building. Considering the facilities provided by the corporation, such as lightening of the streets, collecting household wastes, cleaning streets and taking care of public health you may, on the face of it, find logic in exacting an additional charge from the users. But as you do a bit of quick mental arithmetic you will be astonished to see that the real income sourced from rent is almost half of the aggregate monthly income.
Just deduce the amount of money you have to pay as electricity, gas, was a bills and a few other compulsory informal charges you have to pay in exchange for a better secured and prestigious social life. You will, with a sense of frustration, realize that you can hardly manage the family expense with the rest of the money. Moreover, you are paying yearly income tax assessed on your total yearly earnings which includes your earning from house rent, as well as, other source of earnings Tax policy adopted by Chittagong City Corporation is, in many ways, analogous to the widely known proverb of ‘slaughtering the same cow twice.’
Chittagongian people are by tradition, disdainful of serving as clerks of officials in private or Govt. organisation. They have a peculiar mind set of doing business, trying luck as sailors or working abroad. But with the influx of huge number of people from other districts into Chittagong City have sufficiently crushed their scope of doing business and as almost one third of the land once owned by them are either acquisitioned by the Govt. or bought by the Private Companies for industries, colonies and building installations they are now hard pressed to keep their body and soul together. The only alternative left to them is building three, four or more storied houses on whatever small land they have in the possession. They have no way out but to depend on the small earning derived from houses in the form of rent.
Sorrowfully, the tempting eyes of honorable mayor have fallen on the mere earning of the native Chittagongians. But they have no room to go backward, for conceding to the demand of the City Corporation and its mayor will make them a homeless and destitute people like Ruhingas, a people without a state.
City Mayor asked to suspend hiked holding tax : Former Mayor Manzoor Alam has sent a personal letter to the present city mayor AJM Nasir Uddin on Sunday suggesting hi m to bring down the newly imposed holding tax from city dwellers in affordable stage. Mentionable that President of City Awami league and former Mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury very recently sent a open letter to the Mayor in same connection of holding tax. While contacted former Mayor Manzoor told this reporter that he sent a letter to incumbent mayor regarding holding tax on Sunday .
Former Mayor hoped that AJM Nasiruddin will revise the schedule of holding tax considering the economic situation of the city dwellers and the unnecessary taxes should be eliminated from the schedule immediately. Former Mayor said while taking charge of city mayor earlier , the number o f holdings in city was 1 lakh 25 thousand but now it increased to one lakh 82 thousand. He the present increase of holding tax is not proper one which creates discontentment among the city dwellers.
In the letter of former Mayor mentioned that present Mayor is the general secretary of the ruling party of city unit and he should be more responsible to sustain the image of the present govt t hat achieved under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. He further hoped the demands of the city dwellers should be considered to avoid discontentment among the party . Mentionable that former Mayor and President of city AL Mohiuddin Chowdhury from very beginning of tax tariff announcement vows against the formulated tax gazettee , sources said.
29th September, 2017 may be called Chittagong City dwellers day. On that day City dwellers in thousands paraded the City streets chanting slogans against imposition of exuberantly high rate of holding tax by Chittagong City Corporation under the mayoralty of Alhaj AJM Nasiruddin.
People flowing like flood waters, from almost all the forty one wards, soon turned Kadamtali meeting place into a vast sea of masses.
They thundered slogans which revealed their unanimous rejection of the corporation’s tax assessment and gazette publication to that effect, as well as, their solid determination not to pay the unjustified and illegal taxation decided upon by a person or a group of persons to satisfy their ambitious personal agenda.
Being asked how the present incumbent mayor is different from his earlier counterparts, one Yonus Chowdhury who is an owner of a five storied building located at Chawlkbazar told this correspondent that, “during the tenure of Alhaj Mohiuddin Chy and
Monzurul Alam Manzu as mayors of Chittagong City Corporation the inhabitants of the City used to pay holding tax on the basis of the floor measured in terms square feet, and yet the house owner had a right to appeal against any misjudgement or wrong done to the petitioners.
As a matter of fact the authority almost always took a liberal view of the complainant’s objection. But AJM Nasir Uddin, at present mayor of Chittagong City Corporation, showing abysmal ignorance to the impoverished and downtrodden city dwellers without any discussion or public hearing, all an a sudden, made a declaration in the newspaper that city corporation is going to introduce a new holding tax policy based on the rents collected by a landlord, Zamnider, in Chittagong colloquial. Supposedly, you own a three stored building. According to the newly introduced tax policy you have to pay tax against total amount of money you can earn against the three storied building. Considering the facilities provided by the corporation, such as lightening of the streets, collecting household wastes, cleaning streets and taking care of public health you may, on the face of it, find logic in exacting an additional charge from the users. But as you do a bit of quick mental arithmetic you will be astonished to see that the real income sourced from rent is almost half of the aggregate monthly income.
Just deduce the amount of money you have to pay as electricity, gas, was a bills and a few other compulsory informal charges you have to pay in exchange for a better secured and prestigious social life. You will, with a sense of frustration, realize that you can hardly manage the family expense with the rest of the money. Moreover, you are paying yearly income tax assessed on your total yearly earnings which includes your earning from house rent, as well as, other source of earnings Tax policy adopted by Chittagong City Corporation is, in many ways, analogous to the widely known proverb of ‘slaughtering the same cow twice.’
Chittagongian people are by tradition, disdainful of serving as clerks of officials in private or Govt. organisation. They have a peculiar mind set of doing business, trying luck as sailors or working abroad. But with the influx of huge number of people from other districts into Chittagong City have sufficiently crushed their scope of doing business and as almost one third of the land once owned by them are either acquisitioned by the Govt. or bought by the Private Companies for industries, colonies and building installations they are now hard pressed to keep their body and soul together. The only alternative left to them is building three, four or more storied houses on whatever small land they have in the possession. They have no way out but to depend on the small earning derived from houses in the form of rent.
Sorrowfully, the tempting eyes of honorable mayor have fallen on the mere earning of the native Chittagongians. But they have no room to go backward, for conceding to the demand of the City Corporation and its mayor will make them a homeless and destitute people like Ruhingas, a people without a state.
City Mayor asked to suspend hiked holding tax : Former Mayor Manzoor Alam has sent a personal letter to the present city mayor AJM Nasir Uddin on Sunday suggesting hi m to bring down the newly imposed holding tax from city dwellers in affordable stage. Mentionable that President of City Awami league and former Mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury very recently sent a open letter to the Mayor in same connection of holding tax. While contacted former Mayor Manzoor told this reporter that he sent a letter to incumbent mayor regarding holding tax on Sunday .
Former Mayor hoped that AJM Nasiruddin will revise the schedule of holding tax considering the economic situation of the city dwellers and the unnecessary taxes should be eliminated from the schedule immediately. Former Mayor said while taking charge of city mayor earlier , the number o f holdings in city was 1 lakh 25 thousand but now it increased to one lakh 82 thousand. He the present increase of holding tax is not proper one which creates discontentment among the city dwellers.
In the letter of former Mayor mentioned that present Mayor is the general secretary of the ruling party of city unit and he should be more responsible to sustain the image of the present govt t hat achieved under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. He further hoped the demands of the city dwellers should be considered to avoid discontentment among the party . Mentionable that former Mayor and President of city AL Mohiuddin Chowdhury from very beginning of tax tariff announcement vows against the formulated tax gazettee , sources said.
