Badrul Ahsan :
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has demanded detailed information on BO accounts of noted macroeconomist and a distinguished fellow of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya from 2008 till todate.
An assistant director of Central Intelligence Cell (CIC) of the NBR on January 4, instructed all the Managing Directors of scheduled banks in a letter to provide information on the bank accounts of Dr Debapriya within a week.
It has also asked for information on his wife Irina Bhattacharya’s bank accounts from July 1, 2008.
In a separate letter, it also asked the Central Depository Bangladesh Limited (CDBL) to give information about any BO account of Debapriya and his wife from July 1, 2008.
Besides, the CIC instructed the banks and CDBL authorities, to provide financial information of other family members of Debapriya under Income Tax Law 1984 and clause F-113.
According to the present income tax ordinance, banks and other financial institutions are compelled to provide informations within the stipulated time otherwise they will have to pay Tk 25,000 as fine at a time and then Tk 500 per day if they do not provide the information on Debapriya and his wife’s accounts.
However, when contacted, Dr Debapriya told The New Nation that it was not a new experience for him. “I had to face harassments for commenting on the economy back from 2003 during the BNP government’s tenure,” he said. Debapriya said he does not know why the NBR is investigating about his bank account.
Meanwhile, NBR Chairman Nojibur Rahman did not want to comment on the issue before completing investigation and said it is not allowed to disclose information on the activities of the board. Referring to the Income-tax Law 1984 and clause F-113, NBR chief said the CIC asks for information on bank accounts and other financial information of taxpayers following allegations of tax evasion or inconsistency in accounts of income and expenditure.
Debapriya, is now a distinguished fellow of CPD.
Dr Debapriya was an ambassador and permanent representative of Bangladesh to World Trade Organisation and UN offices in Geneva and Vienna from 2007 during the military-backed caretaker government’s tenure.
