BTRC VAT registration yet to see light

Author Topic: BTRC VAT registration yet to see light  (Read 1125 times)

Offline hassan

  • Faculty
  • Hero Member
  • *
  • Posts: 501
    • View Profile
    • Google site
BTRC VAT registration yet to see light
« on: February 26, 2020, 09:20:42 AM »
Earlier, in a meeting at the Post and Telecommunication Division, it was decided that the BTRC’s VAT registration should be completed immediately


The value added tax (VAT) registration of the telecom regulator to collect taxes from mobile phone companies faced yet another hurdle as the revenue authority is not cooperating in this regard, allege BTRC officials.

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BRTC) officials say the commission recently put forward an application to the Large Taxpayers’ Unit (LTU) of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) seeking vat registration.

However, it was not accepted by the LTU.

Earlier, in a meeting at the Post and Telecommunication Division, presided over by prime minister’s ICT advisor Sajeeb Wazed Joy, it was decided that the BTRC’s VAT registration should be completed immediately.

Meeting sources say the revenue collection from the operators is facing problem as BTRC is not VAT registered.

‘After the meeting with Sajeeb Wazed Joy, we applied to the Large Taxpayers’ Unit (LTU) of the NBR, but they did not accept our application. We were then asked to come through zonal office. Then we put forward the application to the Dhaka South zone but yet to receive any response so far,’ a senior BTRC official told Dhaka Tribune.

He said although the matter was supposed to be done urgently, but the NBR still seems reluctant.

‘It seems the NBR does not want to give any rebate to the mobile operators as BTRC’s  VAT registration will make the operators eligible for rebate,” he said.

He also says around Tk 150 crore in VAT lies uncollected to all mobile operators from the last quarter.

According to the Value-Added Tax and Supplementary Duty Act 2012, all service suppliers must have VAT registration, which includes the BTRC. The VAT rate is 15%.

The Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (Amtob), in a statement on last week, said as the BTRC did not have any VAT registration, the operators were not allowed to pay the VAT amount to the telecom regulator.

In 2017-18 fiscal year, the BTRC collected Tk2,501.5 crore from the mobile phone operators in revenue sharing, spectrum charges and licence fees, and Tk2,648.9 crore in the previous fiscal year.

Md. Arif Hassan
Assistant Professor
Department of Business Administration
Faculty of Business and Economics
Daffodil International University