A businessman has brought Tk 730 crore under the guise of remittances from abroad and claimed a tax break, creating suspicions of tax evasion among officials of the National Board of Revenue (NBR).

At an event at the NBR headquarters yesterday, NBR Chairman Abdur Rahman Khan shared the information with members of the Economic Reporters Forum (ERF) and sought the cooperation of the media to check tax evasion.

He said that the NBR is providing tax benefits on remittances sent home by Bangladeshis working abroad to encourage the use of formal channels.

However, one person brought Tk 730 crore as remittance through a bank account and claimed the money was exempt from taxes.

"Can you believe that?" Khan said at the event organised by the BCS Taxation Association at the NBR office in the capital.

As per the income tax law, remittances sent by expatriates are tax-exempt. Additionally, the government offers a 2.5 percent incentive to remitters sending money through formal channels.

Khan said it is not possible for a wage-earning migrant worker from Bangladesh to earn such a large sum. As such, officials believe that this is an attempt to legalise laundered money with income tax benefits.

"It might have been sent abroad in the form of hundi and brought back in phases through a bank account," said a senior official of the NBR.

"We have started tax recovery steps."

The NBR chairman declined to name the person since the tax recovery process is ongoing.

"This is happening because either we are unaware of these issues or we are deliberately turning a blind eye. Allowing such practices to continue is a major problem," Khan said.

He stressed the need for collective action, saying, "If we truly want to solve these issues, we must work together to combat such irregularities. Without proper policy implementation and strict enforcement, nothing will change. This is the reality."

At the event, the NBR chairman also reiterated the failures arising due to policy inconsistency.

"There is a strong demand for our tax policy to be consistent so that taxpayers can clearly understand their tax liability. In this regard, we have largely failed," he said.

"We will make every effort to ensure that tax policies do not change frequently. Our focus will be on offering clear-cut guidance so that tax rates are not changed arbitrarily."

Khan also emphasised the need for integrated digitalisation across all sectors.

"Digitalisation cannot be one-sided—we must ensure all stakeholders are interconnected," he said.

He mentioned that NBR members have been instructed to take initiatives to integrate with the banking system, enabling the automatic inclusion of banking details in online tax returns by next year.

"Taxpayers' bank balances, deducted taxes, and earned profits will be reflected in their returns. Similarly, integrating with the Central Depository Bangladesh Limited (CDBL) will automate access to dividend information," said Khan.

Calling for immediate action, he added, "Now is the time to take initiative, hold meetings, and move forward with implementation."

GM Abul Kalam Kaikobad, a member of tax administration and human resource management of the NBR, Doulot Akter Mala, president of the Economic Reporters Forum, and Mutasim Billah Faruqui and Syed Mohidul Hasan, president and secretary of the BCS Taxation Association, respectively, spoke at the event.