Thursday, August 2, 2012Sports
BPL Tax Issue
Shihab Trading's accounts frozen
Star Report
In a bid to realise the overdue taxes, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) yesterday asked banks to block all the accounts of Shihab Trading, which had the ticket-selling rights of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) T20 cricket tournament.
However, the decision was taken only to realise the taxes from the organisation, which had bought the ticket-selling and distribution rights for Tk 45 crore.
The money-spinning BPL took place in Dhaka and Chittagong in February this year and the first edition created huge enthusiasm among sports lovers in the country and the meet saw full houses, except for a few games, throughout.
The NBR has also asked the Game On Sports Management (GOSM), which had earlier bought the rights of the BPL for six years at a price of 44.33 million dollars, to submit documents proving by next week that it too deposited taxes on prize money for champions and runners-up teams by deducting taxes at sources.
"As per rules, Shihab Trading should pay 5 per cent of ticket selling earnings as tax which it did not do," said Kanon Kumar Roy, who heads the team formed by NBR to collect the BPL taxes.
Roy said Shihab Trading was supposed to pay Tk 2.25 crore in taxes, but Shihab Trading claims that the amount is Tk 2.16 crore.
"Even after insisting to its own estimate, Shihab Trading did not pay any taxes. That's why we have asked banks to freeze all accounts," said Roy, also the director general at the Directorate of Inspection (Taxes).
The NBR action came as payment of taxes by stakeholders of BPL, including its six franchises, stands much less than its estimate of nearly Tk 20 crore from transactions under the BPL tournament.
So far, six franchises and other firms involved in the tournament paid only Tk 3 crore as taxes, insiders said.
The NBR formed the team in early February to monitor all financial transactions -- thought to be hundreds of crores of taka -- to ensure that all taxes were going to the state coffers.
As per rule, each franchise was supposed to deduct 25 per cent tax against payment to foreign players and 10 percent in case of local cricketers. Some five percent tax on the value of each bid auction was also was supposed to come.
Shihab Trading bought the rights to sell tickets from GOSM for Tk 45 crore
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