HC asks Dr Yunus to deposit Tk50 crore for tax appeal

The High Court (HC) has asked Grameen Telecom Trust Chairman Dr Yunus to deposit Tk50 crore to file an appeal against the income tax claim made by the National Board of Revenue (NBR) for the years 2011-2013.

A HC bench of Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar and Justice Sardar Md Rashed Jahangir passed the order on 12 February and its 24-page full text was published today.

"The NBR sent a notice to Grameen Telecom Trust in November 2020, claiming around Tk250 crore in income tax for the tax years 2011-2013. Grameen Telecom Trust challenged the notice in the High Court and filed a writ. After holding a hearing on the writ, the High Court had issued a rule asking to explain as to why it shall not declare the notice illegal," Assistant Attorney General Barrister Tahmina Poli said.

According to the prosecution, the Grameen Telecom Trust had pleaded for tax waiver after getting the notice, saying they don't have the money. Whereas, the trust had around Tk350-400 crore in its account at that time.

The High Court recently scrapped the writ petition filed by the trust and asked it to deposit Taka 50 crore first to file an appeal against the NBR notice.