Stop politics with money of 'corrupt': Hasina

Dhaka, July 10 (bdnews24.com)?The prime minister has launched a passionate appeal to the supporters of the Islamist parties that enforced the 30-hour shutdown to stop pursuing politics funded by the money of the 'corrupt' people.

Sheikh Hasina made the call when inaugurating the 27th council of pro-Awami League student organisation Bangladesh Chhatra League on Sunday.

"Why do you (Islamist parties) do politics in the name of Islam with the money of corrupt people who take bribes?"

"Didn't you find Allah in Bismillah? Have you found Allah in hartal?" asked Hasina, the president of Awami League.

Eleven Islamist parties called the general strike in protest against the removal of the words "Absolute Faith and Trust in Almighty Allah" from the constitution through the 15th Amendment.

Hasina said, "We believe in politics of vote. We believe in what we've done for the people. We're here to give them something, not to take from them."

She reaffirmed the government's commitment to try suspected war criminals and urged the BCL activists to have patience about the trial.

"There are many jobs that cannot be done hurriedly. They need time. No work can be done with magic. Many complain that this or that has yet to be done.

"I say that those in charge know the situation," the prime minister said.

She thanked the BCL activists for coming to the capital from far and wide of the country to attend the council defying the blockade and urged them to be alert to the threat from the force that had opposed that nation's independence.

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Reveal source or lose money!

Dhaka, July 10 (bdnews24.com) ? Undisclosed and uninvested income should be confiscated, the prime minister's financial advisor has said.

"Not the invested money, rather if they do not invest the money, but cannot show its source, it should be confiscated," Mashiur Rahman told a National Board of Revenue (NBR) programme observing the first National VAT Day.

In 2011-12 budget, the government approved investment of undisclosed money in stock market and government treasury bonds with a 10 percent tax at source. The investor would be then exempted from revealing the source of their income.

Mashiur's comments came following a complaint raised at the event by the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) president Abul Kalam Azad.

"We must come out of this culture of whitening black money. I am paying a 62 percent tax (37.5 percent corporate tax and 25 percent income tax). And someone else is paying 10 percent. This is injustice," he said.

He went on to say that a former NBR chairman had found Tk 100 million in an officer's bank account. "The officer was unable to show the source of that income, but he still has his job," he said.

VAT DAY OBSERVED

At the discussion on VAT Day, finance minister A M A Muhith spoke about his ambitious budget.

"We have big dreams, but limited ability. We need more revenue to bring them to par," he said.

"VAT is not harassment, it is your participation in the nation's service," he added.

Muhith said that the VAT Day had been introduced to dispel the misgivings and misconceptions about the tax.

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BLACK MONEY Kamal: OK up to 'certain level'

Dhaka, June 23 (bdnews24.com) ? The option to whiten black money is acceptable to a 'certain level', says the head of a parliamentary watchdog.

"There are two types of black money ? illegal and immoral (sic). Neither of them is acceptable after a certain level," A H M Mostafa Kamal told reporters after a meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on the finance ministry on Thursday.

He said the committee members reached a consensus on recommending the ministry to give the black money holders a chance to whiten it through investing in the share market.

Finance minister A M A Muhith, in the budget for 2001-12 fiscal year, proposed allowing black money in the government treasury bonds, but not in the share market.

The government had kept the money-whitening provision for four sectors, including the capital market, in 2009-10 fiscal year, when around Tk 4.23 billion black money was invested in the market.

Asked whether the committee is in favour of giving a chance to whiten the type of black money for which BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia's son Arafat Rahman Coco was convicted earlier in the day, Kamal denied comment on the issue.

Earlier in the day, Dhaka's Third Special Judge's Court sentenced Coco, the youngest son of the opposition leader, to six years in jail and slapped a fine of Tk 190.41 million in a money laundering case.

OTHER PROPOSALS

According to Kamal, the panel proposed to retain the tax at source on the commissions the brokerage houses get at its previous rate.

"We proposed not to increase the tax at source on the commissions brokerage houses get and to decrease the corporate tax on banks, insurances and other financial institutions from 42 to 40 percent," he said.

The finance minister proposed to increase the tax from 0.05 to 0.1 percent.

Kamal said the committee proposed to withdraw three percent tax on share premium and make it mandatory for the organisations enjoying tax holiday to offload 25-30 percent of their paid up capital.

He also said the standing committee would hold a meeting on the report of the share scam probe committee, formed to investigate the December-January share market debacle.

Several steps were initiated following a report submitted by the panel, headed by Bangladesh Krishi Bank chief Khondkar Ibrahim Khaled. One such step was to overhaul the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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HC wants investors' money back from Unipay2U

The High Court (HC) has issued a rule upon the government asking why it should not be directed to arrange to pay back the money of the 22 investors in Unipay2U Bangladesh, a multi-level marketing (MLM) company, reports bdnews24.com.

The bench of justices Mohammad Bazlur Rahman and M Enayetur Rahim issued the rule Tuesday in response to a writ petition filed by the investors.

The finance secretary, the governor and a deputy general manager of Bangladesh Bank and the managing director of Unipay2U have been asked to respond to it within three weeks.

Barrister Mahbub Uddin Khokon and advocate Mohammad Nazmul Huda argued for the petitioners during the hearing.

Twenty-two investors in Chittagong filed the petition on May 13 last year to get back the money that they had invested in Unipay2U.

The government last year initiated moves to control multi-level marketing business on getting allegations that many such companies were cheating the people tempting them of high profit.

The central bank on Jan 9 warned the people against investing in multilevel marketing companies that offer abnormal profits in a short span of time.

It said the investors can be deceived by the companies that come up with schemes offering 10 per cent or more profits a month upon investments in gold markets abroad or foreign exchanges.

The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) filed cases against several companies and the central bank stopped operation of their accounts.

In March, the commerce minister told parliament there were 62 registered MLM companies operating in the country.

He said the government knew the number of clients of only one of them, Destiny-2000, which is around 4.5 million.

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