Salah Uddin Ahmed’s lawyer had made a deal of 1 crore taka with Jannatul Ferdous Mitu, Assistant Tax Commissioner of Tax Zone-5 under NBR. In return, he had completely arranged the tax file for 12 tax years and added an income of 237 crore 59 lakh taka. That too in the (tax) tax-exempt service sector.
Businessman Salah Uddin Ahmed had been evading taxes day after day. He even went to the appeal, tribunal and High Court and did not get a verdict in his favor. After that, income tax lawyer Obaidul Haque Sarkar came up with a new plan. He is arranging to grab additional benefits by making a bribe agreement worth crores of taka with the circle officer. He has already paid 38 lakh taka as bribe. In return, he took the entire file from the circle to his chamber and changed the old return for 12 tax years.
This information has come out of the investigation of the Central Intelligence Unit of the NBR. Mitu has already been temporarily suspended on September 1 on charges of accepting bribes. On the other hand, it is known that the bank accounts of taxpayer Salah Uddin Ahmed and income tax lawyer Obaidul Haque Sarkar have been frozen.
According to the notification signed by NBR Chairman Md. Abdur Rahman Khan, Assistant Tax Commissioner Jannatul Ferdous Mitu took a bribe of Tk 38 lakh from taxpayer Salah Uddin Ahmed of Circle-93 of the tax region. In return, he provided most of the previous records of sensitive income tax documents to the taxpayer’s designated representative (Income Tax Lawyer or ITP). Which includes old income tax returns, order sheets, tax assessment orders, appeal and tribunal orders and other documents. Therefore, the government has decided to take departmental action against this Assistant Tax Commissioner. According to Rule-12 of the Government Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 2018, Assistant Tax Commissioner Jannatul Ferdous Mitu has been temporarily suspended from service after being appointed as an officer on special duty of the NBR. During the temporary suspension, he will be entitled to food allowance as per the rules.
NBR sources further informed that after receiving the information, CIC officials verified the overall matter. Where old returns of 12 tax years including other evidence were found in the chambers of tax lawyer Obaidul Haque Sarkar. The officials recovered all the income tax related documents of taxpayer Salah Uddin Ahmed from his chambers. Where it is seen that Obaidul Haque has prepared a new return of the old 12 tax years. In it, he has added tax-free income or assets of about 237 crore 59 lakh taka. However, in addition to the applicable income tax, income tax evasion of 75 crore taka has been revealed in Salah Uddin Ahmed’s old file. An agreement of Tk 1 crore was reached with Assistant Tax Commissioner Jannatul Ferdous Mitu and the Circle employees to take the entire file of Obaidul Haque Salahuddin Ahmed, including the returns of 12 tax years, to his chamber and prepare a new return. Some evidence was found on Mitu’s mobile phone and in his written confession.
