NBR flags tax anomalies of former CSE president, his relatives

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has detected tax anomalies amounting to over Tk 58 crore involving five individuals and their companies, including a former president of the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE).

The NBR's Central Intelligence Cell (CIC) found that former CSE president Fakhor Uddin Ali Ahmed and four of his relatives, including his son, did not pay the actual amount of taxes due from the income year 2017-18 to the income year 2023-24, according to officials.

The taxpayers imported coal and stone using their names but recorded the imports in the income tax file of a firm, M/S Fakhor Uddin Ali Ahmed.

An NBR official said this was a form of financial layering, which can be done in multiple steps to avoid taxes.

By doing so, the taxpayers did not disclose their investments in their tax files and avoided paying a wealth tax surcharge, the NBR's field office said.

Those implicated are Falah Uddin Ali Ahmed, Salah Uddin Ahmed, Foyez Hasan Ferdous, and Fakhorus Salehin Nahian.

The NBR said these individuals collectively evaded Tk 50.83 crore in surcharges and related fines during the period.

The tax authority also found that the taxpayers concealed their actual taxable incomes by hiding rental income from a sports complex in the capital's Bashundhara Residential Area.

Additionally, they failed to disclose the purchase of luxury apartments in Gulshan and did not report the actual investment in commercial space in Gulshan through International Securities Limited, a brokerage house.

As such, the NBR determined that they had dodged taxes amounting to around Tk 8.26 crore.

However, the allegations were refuted.

Fakhorus Salehin Nahian, Fakhor's son, said they did not evade any taxes to the best of his knowledge. "There might have been a mistake," he said, adding that the NBR's field office did not issue any demand notice for the tax.

Instead, it moved to freeze their bank accounts.

Nahian said the firm M/S Fakhor Uddin Ali Ahmed was recognised by the NBR as the second-highest taxpayer in the firm category in the fiscal year 2022-23.

"Our files came under audit by the tax office," he said, adding that they will follow due legal process.

The CIC found that M/S Fakhor Uddin is a shareholder of Hotel Star Pacific, Casablanca Hotel & Restaurant, Sylhet Communications Systems Ltd, and International Securities Ltd.

"The individuals have run the firms and used them as a medium to evade taxes," said an NBR document.

For this reason, the tax authority took legal measures and asked banks to freeze the accounts of the taxpayers, including their firms, in February.

Based on a writ petition filed by the taxpayers, the High Court last week stayed the NBR directive to block the accounts of International Securities Ltd.Undisclosed offshore investment found

The CIC also found an undisclosed offshore investment made by Fakhor and Nahian in an under-construction 33-storey complex in Dubai.

The project consists of 224 apartments, including studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom units, along with shared facilities such as a gym and a swimming pool, according to the NBR, which sent teams to Dubai in January to gather information on undisclosed assets of Bangladeshis abroad.

The tax administration said it is probing the matter to recover taxes and penalties.

As per the Income Tax Act, 2023, all Bangladeshi residents must disclose any foreign assets or investments in their tax filings, the NBR said.

However, the individuals have not reported offshore investments in their tax files, which is a violation of tax laws.

Speaking to The Daily Star, Nahian refuted those allegations as well, saying, "I have no financial investment in the Dubai project. The developer hired me as a sales agent, and we signed the agreement on July 2, 2024. I have a residence permit in Dubai. I have not laundered money in any way. Since I signed it in July last year, I still have the opportunity to include it in my tax file."