In order to increase the revenue collection, the authorities concerned have asked the foreign workers to disclose their actual salaries and allowance who are working in different organizations in the country.
NGO Affairs Bureau, in a letter to different non-government organizations (NGOs) director and residential director state that, a good number of foreign workers who are working in different NGOs are hiding information about their actual salaries and allowance. As a result, the government is losing revenue.
The letter signed by the NGO Affairs Bureau director Tapan Kumar Biswas also said that, the salaries of foreign workers hired by NGOs should be paid through banks from the first month after they join the workplace. At the same time the salary statement has to be submitted to the NGO bureau every year.
According to NGO Affairs Bureau officials, many foreign nationals have bank accounts and also have tax identification numbers (TINs). But they do not make financial transactions through banks. They send money to their countries (abroad) illegally.
Therefore, the message has been given to the NGOs, from now on these issues should not be neglected in any way. The actual information of salary-allowance has to be disclosed properly.
A recent report prepared by Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) said that, foreign workers working in different private organizations are taking away Tk 26,000 crore annually from Bangladesh.
The report also showed that, legally and illegally there are around 2.5 lakh foreign citizen in the country. However, as per Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA), this number is only 11,000.
TIB's research has shown that foreign nationals based in Bangladesh are hiding information about their real salaries and allowances. In this case, the recruiting agency is cooperating with them. Due to this, the real salary of foreign nationals working in NGOs does not come up. As a result, the government is being deprived of revenue.
In a letter to the residential directors and executive directors of various NGOs, the NGO bureau said that the period for hiring a foreign NGO worker cannot be extended without receiving salaries and allowances through banks, submitting salary details to regular NGO bureaus and paying income tax.
According to the Income Tax Ordinance, the tax rate on the income of foreign nationals is 30 percent. If a foreign national earns Tk 100, he has to pay Tk 30 tax.
There is a system to punish the employer and the foreign national if the foreign national does not pay the tax in time. The Income Tax Act provides for a fine of up to Tk 5 lakh or up to 50 per cent of the tax payable to that person or organization. There is also a provision of three years imprisonment, said an official of National Board of Revenue (NBR).
The TIB noted in its study that such incidents are due to the lack of specific policies on recruitment and employment of foreign nationals and the lack of specific authority to implement the policies.
In this regards, the Bureau of NGO Affairs said, if any foreign national working in an NGO is found to be involved in activities contrary to the policy, necessary legal action should be taken against that foreign worker. At the same time, the NGO bureau has to be informed about what kind of action has been taken.
