Finance Act, 1994

[Home] [Databases] [WorldLII] [Search] [Feedback]
Bangladesh Acts

You are here: CommonLII >> Databases >> Bangladesh Acts >> Finance Act, 1994

[Database Search] [Name Search] [Noteup] [Help]

Finance Act, 1994

Published in Bangladesh Gazette Extraordinary
Dated 1st July, 1994

Act No.11 of 1994

An Act made to give effect to financial proposals of the Government and to amend certain Acts

Whereas it is expedient to give effect to financial proposals of the Government and to amend certain Acts;

Now, therefore, it is enacted as follows:-

1. Short title and Commencement.- (1) This Act may be called the Finance Act, 1994.
(2) Subject to the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1931 (XVI of 1931) and the declarations made thereunder, this Act shall have effect from the 1st July, 1994.

2. Amendment of Act II of 1899.- In Schedule I of the Stamp Act (II of 1899)-
(1) at the end of entry 18 (Certificate of Sale) the following Exemption shall be inserted, namely:-

Exemption

Where a house mortgaged with the Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation established under the Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation Order, 1973 (President's Order No.7 of 1973), is purchased by the Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation itself in a public auction by a civil court or by Artha Rin Adalat established under the Artha Rin Adalat Act, 1990 (Act No.4 of 1990) or a revenue court or Collector or any other revenue officer, no stamp duty will be payable by the said Corporation.";
(2) in the second column opposite entry 23 (Conveyance), for the figure and sign "12%" the figure and sign "10%" shall be substituted;
(3) in the second column opposite item (e) of entry 48 for the words and fullstop "amount of the consideration" the words and colon "amount of the consideration;" shall be substituted and thereafter the following proviso and explanation shall be inserted, namely:-

Provided that in the case of a power of attorney given by a loanee while obtaining loans, advances or any other credit facilities from any scheduled bank or financial institution empowering such bank or institution to realise the loan amount from him, in the event of default by him, by selling his immovable property, no stamp duty will be payable."

Explanation- In this clause-

(a) "financial institution" means the Bangladesh Shilpa Bank established by the Bangladesh Shilpa Bank Order, 1972 (President's Order No.129 of 1972), the Bangladesh Shilpa Rin Sangstha established by the Bangladesh Shilpa Rin Sangstha Order, 1972 (President's Order No.128 of 1972) and the Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation established under the Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation Order, 1973 (President's Order No.7 of 1973); and
(b) "scheduled bank" means a scheduled bank as defined in clause (j) of article 2 of the Bangladesh Bank Order, 1972 (President's Order No.127 of 1972)".

3. Amendment of Act XV of 1963.- In section 5 of the Wealth Tax Act, 1963 (XV of 1963), in sub-section (1), for clause (XIII) the following clause (XIII) shall be substituted, namely:-

"(XIII) a house or an appartment or a flat owned and occupied solely by an assessee for the purpose of his own residence."

4. Amendment of Act IV of 1969.- In the Customs Act, 1969 (IV of 1969),-
(1) after section 25 the following section 25A shall be inserted, namely:-
"25A. Notwithstanding anything contained in any other section of this Act, the Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, declare that the quality, quantity, price and customs classification of goods verified and certified in the prescribed manner by an approved preshipment inspection agency will be accepted as the basis for assessment."
(2) in section 200, for the words and commas "examination by an officer of Customs, removal or warehousing thereof shall be done, and any facilities or assistance required for any such examination shall be provided, by or at the expense of the owner of the goods" the words and commas "examination, including any investigation, scientific or chemical test or draft survey, by an officer of Customs, removal or warehousing thereof shall be done, and any facilities or assistance required for any such examination, investigation, test or survey shall be provided, by or at the expense of the owner of the goods" shall be substituted;
(3) the First Schedule shall be amended as stated in the First Schedule of this Act.

5. Amendment of Act XXIII of 1980.- In section 12 of the Finance Act, 1980 (XXIII of 1980),-
(1) in sub-section (1),-

(a) in clause (a), for the words "seventeen hundred and fifty taka" the words "eighteen hundred taka" shall be substituted;
(b) in clause (b), for the words "five hundred and fifty taka" the words "six hundred taka" shall be substituted;
(c) in clause (c), for the words "twelve hundred and fifty taka" the words "thirteen hundred taka" shall be substituted; and

(2) in sub-section (1A), for the words "two hundred taka per traveller by land and five hundred and fifty taka" the words "two hundred and fifty taka per traveller by land and six hundred taka" shall be substituted.

6. Amendment of Ordinance XXXVI of 1984.- In the Income Tax Ordinance, 1984 (XXXVI of 1984),-
(1) in section 28, in sub-section (1), for the fullstop at the end of clause (g) a semicolon shall be substituted and thereafter the following new clause (h) shall be inserted, namely:-

"(h) the amount of income under section 19 (23)";

(2) in section 29, in sub-section (1), in clause (xviiiaa), for the words "four and a half per cent." the words "five per cent." shall be substituted;
(3) in section 30, in clause (e), for the words "sixty thousand" the words "seventy-two thousand" shall be substituted;
(4) in section 33, for clause (d) the following clause (d) shall be substituted, namely:-

"(d) any income to which section 19 (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (8), (9), (10), (11), (12), (13) or (21) applies;";

(5) in sub-section (2B) of section 45,-

(a) clause (c) shall be abolished;
(b) in clause (cc) for the words "twenty-five per cent." the words "thirty per cent." shall be substituted;

(6) in sub-section (2B) of section 46,-

(a) clause (c) shall be omitted;
(b) in clause (cc) for the words "twenty-five per cent." the words "thirty per cent." shall be substituted;

(7) in sub-section (2) of section 53H,-

(a) for clause (a) the following clause (a) shall be substituted, namely:-
"(a) sale by a bank or any financial institution as a mortgagee empowered to sell," and
(b) after clause (e) the following Explanation shall be inserted, namely:-
"Explanation-In this sub-section "financial institution" shall mean the Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation, the Bangladseh Shilpa Bank and the Banmgladesh Shilpa Rin Sangstha.";

(8) in section 55 for the words, numbers, brackets and letter "payable on the amount at the rates specified in paragraph 3(b) of the Second Schedule" the words "Payable on the amount at the rate of twenty per cent. shall be substituted";
(9) in sub-section (1) section 72 for the words "twelve per cent." the words "ten per cent." shall be substituted;
(10) in sub-section (1) of section 72 for the words "twelve per cent." the words "ten per cent." shall be substituted;
(11) for section 83 the following section 83 shall be substituted, namely:-
"83. Assessment after hearing and consideration of evidence.- (1) Where a return or revised return has been filed by a person under Chapter VIII and the Deputy Commissioner of Taxes is not satisfied with the income shown in the return or with the accounts or the evidence submitted with the return, he shall give a notice to such person in writing specifying therein the defects or shortcomings in the return or any other reason for his dissatisfaction so as to provide an opportunity to the person to furnish in writing his explanation or clarification for rectifying or removing the defects or shortcomings or the reason for dissatisfaction, as the case may be, and the Deputy Commissioner of Taxes shall, if satisfied with such explanation or clarification, assess, within thirty days of the receipt of the explanation or clarification, recording his findings and the basis of computation of total income in the assessment order, the total income of the assessee and determine the tax payable by him, and communicate the order to the assessee within thirty days next following.
(2) Where the Deputy Commissioner of Taxes is not satisfied with the explanation or clarification furnished under sub-section (1) or where no such explanation or clarification is furnished, the Deputy Commissioner of Taxes shall serve on the person concerned a notice requiring him, on a date therein to be specified, to appear before him or to produce or cause to be produced before him or at his office, any evidence in support of the return and after hearing the person appearing, or considering the evidence produced before him, the Deputy Commissioner of Taxes shall assess, recording the basis of computation in the assessment order, the total income of the assessee and determine the tax payable by him, within thirty days after the completion of the hearing or consideration, as the case may be, and communicate the order to the assessee within thirty days next following."
(12) in sub-section (4) of section 83A for the words "fifteen hundred" the words "eighteen hundred" shall be substituted;
(13) in clause (c) of section 84 for the word, number and brackets "section 83 (1)" the word, number and brackets "83 (2)" shall be substituted;
(14) in section 94,-

(a) in sub-section (3), for the number and comma "121," the number, letter and comma "152E," shall be substituted;
(b) in Explanation I, for the number and comma "121," the number, letter and comma "152E," shall be substituted;
(c) in Explanation II, for the number and comma "121," the number, letter and comma "152E," shall be substituted;

(15) in section 151, for the words "fifteen per cent." the words "ten per cent." shall be substituted;
(16) after Chapter XVIII the following Chapter XVIIIA shall be inserted, namely:- CHAPTER XVIIIA
SETTLEMENT OF CASES 152A. Definitions.- In this Chapter, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,-

(i) "bench" means a bench of the Commission;
(ii) "case" means any proceedings under this Chapter relating to any order mentioned in clause (a) and (b) of sub-section (1) of section 152D;
(iii) "Chairman" means the Chairman of the Commission;
(iv) "Commission" means the Taxes Settlement Commission appointed under section 152B; and
(v) "member" means a full-time or a part-time member of the Commission, and includes the Chairman thereof.

152B. Taxes Settlement Commission.- (1) The Government shall appoint a Commission to be called the Taxes Settlement Commission which shall exercise the powers conferred upon and discharge the functions assigned to it under this Chapter.
(2) The Commission shall consist of a Chairman and as many full-time and part-time members as may be determined by the Government from time to time.
(3) The Chairman and other members of the Commission shall be appointed by the Government from amongst persons of integrity and outstanding ability having special knowledge of, and experience in, matters relating to income tax law, accounts, trade, commerce, industry, business and administration.

152C. Powers and Functions of the Commission.- (1) The powers and functions of the Commission shall be exercised and discharged by benches of the Commission to be constituted by the Commission.
(2) A bench shall ordinarily consist of two full-time members or one full-time member and one part-time member and shall be presided over by the Chairman:
Provided that where the Chairman is not a member of the bench, the Chairman shall authorise any member of the bench to preside over it.
(3) Subject to the provisions of thios Ordinance, the Commission shall regulate its own procedure and the procedures of its benches in all matters arising out of the discharge of its functions uncluding the places at which a bench shall hold its sittings.
(4) If the members of a bench differ in opinion as to the decision to be given on any point,-

(a) the point shall be decided according to the opinion of the majority, if there is a majority;
(b) if the members are equally divided and the Chairman of the Commission is not himself a member of the bench, the case shall be referred to the Chairman and the decision of the Commission shall be expressed in terms of the opinion of the Chairman; and
(c) if the members are equally divided and the Chairman of the Commission is himself a member of the bench, the opinion of the Chairman shall prevail and the decision of the Commission shall be expressed in terms of the opinion of the Chairman.

(5) The order of the Commission in any case or on any point shall be final and conclusive:
Provided that in a case where the Commission is of the opinion that involves a substantial question of law, it may, at any time, transfer the case to the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, and the provisions of Chaptzer XIX shall apply to the case so referred.

152D. Application for Settlement of Cases.- (1) An assessee, not being a company having a paid up capital of taka fifty lakhs or above, may make an application in the prescribed form and verified in the prescribed manner to the Commission if he is aggrieved by an order of-

(a) an Inspecting Joint Commissioner of Taxes under section 10 or section 120; or
(b) a Deputy Commissioner to Taxes under Chapter IX of this Ordinance.

(2) No application under sub-section (1) shall lie before the Commission unless-

(a) the assessee has filed the return of income under this Ordinance and the income tax payable on the basis of such return has been paid;
(b) the assessee has waived his rightof appeal or revision, as the case may be;
(c) the application has been made within sixty days of the receipt of the order referred to in sub-section (1); and
(d) the application made under sub-section (1) is accompanied by a fee of taka three hundred.

(3) An assessee having made an application under sub-section (1) shall not be allowed to withdraw it.

152E. Disposal of application by the Commission- (1) The Commission, on having received the application, may either allow the application or may reject the same if it is satisfied that any one or more of the conditions laid down in sub-section (2) of section 152D have not been complied with:
Provided that the application shall not be rejected under this sub-section unless an opportunity has been given to the applicant of being heard.
(2) Where an application is allowed under sub-section (1), the Commission may call for the relevant records from the Commissioneer and after examination of such records and such other evidences, as it may deem fit, pass an order after giving to the applicant and the Commissioner an opportunity of being heard in person or through their authorised represntatives.
(3) Every order passed under sub-section (2) shall provide for the terms of settlement including any demand of tax, penalty or interest, the manner in which any sum due under the settlement shall be paid and all other matters necessary to make the settlement effective.
(4) The Commission shall pass its order under this section within six months from the date of the receipt of the application and shall communicate the order to the applicant and the Commissioner within thirty days from the date of passing of such order.
(17) in section 153, in sub-section (3) for clause (b) the following clause (b) shall be substituted, namely:-

"(b) in the case of assessment under section 84A, twenty-five per cent of the tax payable on the basis of such assessment or the tax payable under section 74, has been paid.";

(18) in section 156,-

(a) in sub-section (1), for the fullstop at the end of clause (c) a colon shall be substituted and thereafter the following new proviso shall be inserted, namely:-
"Provided that an order of assessment or penalty shall not be set aside except in a case where the Appelate Joint Commissioner or the Commissioner (Appeals) is satisfied that a notice on the assessee has not been served in accordance with the provisions of section 178.";
(b) after the word "Commissioner" at the end of sub-section (5) the words "within thirty days of the passing of such order" shall be inserted;

(19) in section 163, in sub-section (3),-

(a) the word "or" at the end of clause (p) shall be abolished;
(b) for the fullstop at the end of clause (q) the word and semicolon ";or" shall be substituted and thereafter the following new clause (r) shall be inserted, namely:-
"(r) a list of highest tax-payers in accordance with rules made in this behalf.";

(20) for Paragraph 3 of THE SECOND SCHEDULE the following Pragraph 3 shall be substituted, namely:-
"3. Where the total income of an assessee includes any income from "winnings" referred to in section 19(13) chargeable under the head "Income from other sources" (hereinafter referred to as the "said income"), the tax payable by him on the said income shall be at the rate applicable to his total income including the said income or at the rate of twenty per cent., whichever is lower.";
(21) in Part B of THE SIXTH SCHEDULE,-

(a) for sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph 8 the following sub-paragraph (b) shall be substituted, namely:-
"(b) in the case of any other body corporate, it shall be established by or under an Act of Parliament.";
(b) in paragraph 10, in sub-paragraph (1), in clause (a), after the words "in this behalf" the words, comma and number "and as are purchased not later than the thirtieth day of June, 1994";

7. Repeal of Ordinance XLIII of 1985.- The Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge (Surcharge and Levy) Ordinance, 1985 (XLIII of 1985) stands herewith repealed.

8. Amendment of Ordinance XLV of 1986.- In the Finance Ordinance, 1986 (XLV of 1986), in section 12, in sub-section (1), for the words "at the rate of one per cent, on the amount or value of the consideration of the immovable property transferred" the words, commas, brackets and letters "at the rate of,-

(a) in the case of an area falling within a municipality or a city for which there is a City Corporation, one per cent., and
(b) in the case of any other area, one half of one per cent.

On the amount or value of the consideration of the immovable property transferred".

9. Amendment of Act No.22 of 1991.- In the Added Value Tax Act, 1991 (Act No.22 of 1922)-

(1) in section (2)-
a) for clause c) the following clause c) shall be substituted, namely:-
"c) "input" means all kinds of raw materials, package materials, services and equipments; but it shall not include labour, soil, buildings, office equipments and vehicles;";
b) after clause d) the following new clause dd) shall be inserted, namely:-
""dd) "Commission" means the Turnover Tax Assessment Commission established by this Act under section 8A;";
c) after clause j) the following new clause jj) shall be inserted, namely:-
"jj) "Chairman" means the Chairman of the Commission;
d) after clause r) the following new clause rr) shall be inserted, namely:-
"rr) "bench" means any bench consisting of one or more members of the Commission;";
e) After the words "in Bangladesh" in clause y) shall be inserted the words "by them";
f) after clause v) shall be inserted the following new clause vv), namely:-
"vv) "member" means any member of the Commission and shall also include the Chairman;";

(2) in section 5-
a) for the proviso of sub-section (4) shall be substituted the following proviso, namely:-
"Provided that, in the case of any ordered service, the Board may by order charge added value tax on the basis of the real added value or on the basis of the rate of added value determined by him in this behalf through notification in the official Gazette."
b) sub-section (6) shall be abolished;
(3) after section 8 the following new sections shall be inserted, namely:-
"8A. Turnover Tax Assessment Commission.- (1) The Government shall, by notification in the official Gazette, appoint a commission to be called the Turnover Tax Assessment Commission for the purpose of assessing the turnover tax to be paid on an annual basis instead of payment of the turnover tax at a rate of two percent under section 8 and for the purpose of deciding on appeals against any decision relating to turnover tax collected by the departmental officers concerned.
(2) The Government shall, by notification in the official Gazette, appoint a permanent Chairman and such number of other permanent or temporary members of the Commission as it thinks necessary from amongst persons having special knowledge of, experience and competence in, matters relating to customs, excise duty, added value tax, income tax, judgements, audits, commerce and administration.
8B. Powers and Functions of the Commission.- (1) The powers and functions of the Commission shall be exercised and discharged by benches consisting of members of the Commission to be constituted by the Chairman.
(2) A bench of the Commission shall consist of one or more members and the Chairman shall determine the area based jurisdiction of each bench.
(3) Each session of a bench of the Commission shall be presided over by the Chairman:
Provided that where the Chairman is not a member of the bench, the functions of the Chairman shall be discharged by any member authorised in this behalf by the Chairman.
(4) The Chairman shall regulate the procedure of the Commission and the procedures of its benches and shall determine the places of the sessions of the benches.
(5) If the members of a bench differ in opinion as to the decision to be given on any point-
a) the point shall be decided according to the opinion of the majority, if there is a majority;
b) if the members are equally divided and the Chairman of the Commission is not himself a member of the bench, the case shall be referred to the Chairman and the decision of the Chairman shall be deemed to be the decision of the Commission;
c) if the members are equally divided and the Chairman of the Commission is himself a member of the bench, the opinion of the Chairman shall prevail and the decision of the Commission shall be expressed in terms of the opinion of the Chairman.
8C. Application and appeal to the Commission.- (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other section of this Act, every taxpayer may, in such manner and in such form as may be prescribed, make an application and appeal against the assessment of the turnover tax on an annual basis under section 8 or against any decision relating thereto taken by the departmental officers concerned.
(2) The Commission may, before deciding on an application or, as the case may be, an appeal, call for any necessary informations and records relating to the matter stated in the application or appeal and may, on the basis of the nature and the circumstances of the matter, by order allow or reject the application or repeal.
(3) Where an application or appeal is allowed under sub-section (2), the Commission may call for the relevant records from the officer concerned; and it shall, after examination of the relevant records and after giving to the applicant and, if necessary, to the officer concerned an opportunity of being heard, decide on the application and appeal within sixty working days from the date on which such application and appeal had been submitted.
(4) Where it is necessary so to do for the purpose of deciding on an application or appeal allowed under sub-section (2), any member of the Commission or the departmental officer concerned may, after giving reasonable notice, enter the business premises, production or manufacture facilities or service station of the applicant or appellant and may collect any informations on the records and papers concerned, the machinery and the manner in which the goods are produced or manufactured or the services supplied.
(5) No application or appeal shall be made to the Commission under this section for deciding whether or not any taxpayer is liable to registration within the scope of added value tax or is liable to pay turnover tax under section 8.
(6) Any decision taken by the Commission shall be deemed to be final and no question with respect thereto shall arise before any court or authority."
(4) For the full stop at the end of sub-section (2) of section 15 shall be substituted a colon and thereafter shall be inserted the following proviso, namely:-
"Provided that where the supply of any such goods or services or an import or export business is carried on centrally and where its accounts and records are maintained in such way the Board may, by general or special order in the official Gazette, give order that only such head office for the supply of goods or services, or of an export or import business, as the case may be, shall be registered under this section.";
(5) The provision of section 17 shall be renumbered as sub-section (1) of the said section and thereafter shall be inserted the following sub-section (2), namely:-
"(2) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Act, any person selling, transferring or leasing any goods produced, manufactured in, or imported to, Bangladesh or supplying any services, excepting the sevices stated in the second schedule, who is beyond the scope of section 15 and sub-section (1) may, in such manner and in such form as may be prescribed, apply to the officer concerned for being voluntarily registered as a supplier of taxable goods or taxable services and the officer concerned shall, if he is satisfied that the application complies with all requirements, registrate the applicant and shall state the identification number of his business and give him a certificate of registration; and such registrated person shall be deemed to be a taxpayer under this Act and all provisions regarding the assessment and payment of tax under this Act shall be applicable in his case."

CommonLII: Copyright Policy | Disclaimers | Privacy Policy | Feedback
URL: http://www.commonlii.org/bd/legis/num_act/fa199466