Legal notice seeks cancellation of excise duty on bank accounts

A Supreme Court lawyer today sent a legal notice to the government requesting it to cancel all the excise duties on bank accounts in 72 hours.

Eunus Ali Akond served the legal notice also urging the authorities concerned of the government to take necessary steps for withdrawing the finance acts of 2004 and 2010, under which the excise duties are imposed on bank account holders, in 72 hours.

In the notice, he said there was no provision in the Excise and Salt Act, 1944 for imposing excise duty on the bank money of the depositors.

But, the respondents have illegally inserted the provisions of imposing excise duty on the bank account holders in the finance acts of 2004 and 2010.

Under the Excise and Salt Act, 1944, the government cannot amend this law except for framing rules, SC lawyer Eunus said in the legal notice.

Secretaries to the cabinet division, parliament and ministry of finance and speaker to Jatiya Sangsad have been made respondents to the legal notice.

Advocate Eunus told The Daily Star that if the respondents don’t cancel the excise duties of bank account holders and the finance acts of 2004 and 2010 in 72 hours, he will move a writ petition before the High Court seeking necessary orders to this effect.   

Finance Minister AMA Muhith while placing budget for fiscal 2017-18 on June 1 proposed raising the excise duty from Tk 500 to Tk 800 on accounts where the balance -- whether debit or credit -- exceeds Tk 1 lakh but stays less than Tk 10 lakh at any point of time during a year.