The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) today called upon the government to formulate separate law to deal with the black money and benami (bought in other’s name) properties, within and outside the country. The think-tank made the proposal after it found that fiscal measures on ad hoc basis to whiten black money had failed to bring undisclosed money and benami properties into the mainstream economy. “It is now important to formulate a predictable legal framework where tax rate should be above the marginal rate,” Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, distinguished fel...

Bangladesh is set to honour former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for his outstanding support for the country’s independence from Pakistan in 1971 when he was a Lok Sabha member. A Foreign Ministry spokesman familiar with the process said Bangladesh will hand over Mr Vajpayee’s “Friends of Bangladesh Liberation War Award” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his upcoming visit to the country from June 6. Mr Vajpayee, who is unwell, could not visit Bangladesh to rece...

The government will set up a tax office in each upazila. These offices aim to identify tax payable residents in divisional headquarters and district towns and provide them with e-TINs for bringing them under the tax net. This decision has been taken as the government aims for a huge target of tax revenue. The targeted tax collection is Tk 176,370 crore for the 2015-16 fiscal. Of the total amount, the major portion will come from the Income Tax wing which is Tk 65,932 crore. The target for collection from VAT has been fixed at Tk 63,902...