Al Amin :
Around Tk 49,000 crore revenues have been stuck due to slow pace in settling disputes in the three wings– income tax, VAT, and Customs– of the National Board of Revenue (NBR).
The NBR officials said that the case jam would be reduced and the government would get revenue from resolving the disputes on time, if the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) system acts properly.
The revenue board, however, has taken manifold initiatives to bring pace in the ADR settlement,but the officials don’t take risk due to lack of security measures, the officials said.
The NBR introduced the ADR system in 2012 in order to get rid of the case jam. Besides, the revenue board formed four benches in each appellate tribunal.
On the other hand, NBR appoints a Member as President of the tribunal with four commissioners and four district judges. The initiatives have brought pace slightly.
According to the NBR data, the number of cases in three areas — income tax, VAT and customs — is around 32,000, including ones with the NBR’s appellate tribunal and the HC, with the estimated revenue to be made from those standing at Tk49,000 crore.
Of these, some 4,729 cases were pending to settle in the Customs and VAT appellate tribunal till the last December, which were 6,626 in June, 2021. Of these, 500 cases were settled in the last December.
But, around 100 cases were filed during this time, resulting that the tribunal is not getting rid of the trend of lawsuits.
And still 4,729 cases are waiting to be resolved in the appellate tribunal with a big amount of revenues, the NBR officials said.
They said the number of disposal cases has increased in recent time and at the same time new cases are being added almost every day.
Although a time limit has been fixed for disposal of the old and the new cases in 2021, but it has yet to gain momentum, they said.
Insufficient benches and manpower crisis are creating obstacle to settle the disputes, the officials added.
“We hope that in the future, the ADR process will lead to solving more business disputes and speed up revenue collection,” said Abdul Mannan Sikder, Member (VAT Implementation and IT) of the NBR on Saturday.
The NBR has also formed a facilitator team consisting of experts for dispute resolution in the ADR system. The decision of the facilitator is taken after the arguments raised by the representatives of the company and the representatives of the concerned office of the NBR.
There is an opportunity for any party to object to the facilitator’s decision.
If the dispute is not settled, it goes to the court or the NBR’s appellate tribunal for settlement as usual. If the dispute continues, then redress can be sought in the HC.
