Vehicle worry for individual taxpayers

Zarif Mahmud: You are a regular taxpayer. You may have a vehicle in your name, which you have registered with BRTA with e-TIN. But suddenly you get a notice from tax office, you have 18 or 103 vehicles in your name. How will it feel then? If you can’t explain the car correctly, you will have to pay tax on the car purchase. That is, the tax office will tax you by considering the car purchase money as your income. Also, taxes on these vehicles must be paid every year. It’s not a story, it’s true. As per e-TIN, many such vehicles have been traced by various tax offices. BRTA has received information verifying its database.
Unbeknownst to the taxpayer, hundreds of vehicles have been registered with his e-TIN. The interesting thing is that sometimes the owner of these vehicles registered with one e-TIN is another person, sometimes a company. After the tax office sent letters to many taxpayers, he came to know that many vehicles were registered with his e-TIN. Many taxpayers have protested at the tax office, BRTA over this. The car is now a panic on the taxpayer’s file. The tax office says the taxpayer is notified after the vehicle is found. However, no tax payer will be harassed at the time of BRTA registration.
According to NBR sources, Sharif Uddin (pseudonym for security) of Mohammadpur area of the capital is a grocer. A few years back, he has been giving regular returns with e-TIN. Two years ago, he was served a notice by the tax office. He was told that he has 48 cars in his name, which have to be taxed. He fell from the sky. Because he doesn’t own a car. But the tax office says that he is the owner of those cars. The vehicles have been registered with his e-TIN. This taxpayer says, I can’t afford to buy a car. But my file mentions 48 cars. I have reported the matter to the tax office. And the tax office says that they have got the details of 48 vehicle registrations with e-TIN of this businessman from BRTA’s database. Brokers and BRTA’s cycle registered the vehicle using the taxpayer’s e-TIN.
According to NBR sources, Dr. Humayun Kabir (pseudonym) is a regular tax payer of a circle under tax zone-10. He owns a car. He registered this vehicle with his e-TIN. But on October 28, 2022, a letter was sent to him from the tax office. It is said that this taxpayer’s E-TIN has been verified from BRTA’s database and has 14 vehicles in his name.
That is, 14 vehicles have been registered with his e-TIN. The tax office has asked him about the source of the money for the purchase of the cars and the payment of tax. He is shocked. If he cannot give a proper explanation, he will have to pay the purchase money and tax on the car. By contacting the tax office, you can find out that not 14, but 18 cars have been registered. He does not know who registered this. He contacted the BRTA-tax office but did not get any solution. Later, on the advice of the tax office, he filed a general diary at the police station. Also wrote a letter to BRTA Chairman stating that I am not aware of the 14 vehicles registered with my e-TIN. I do not know the owner or address of these vehicles. After contacting the tax office, I came to know that a total of 18 vehicles have been registered with my e-TIN. I am facing tax related complications with the car. He fears that I may be subjected to various harassments due to my use of this information in the future. These vehicles have been registered in different circles across the country. Some vehicle registration dates are several years before my e-TIN registration.
Daily Industry has verified the 18 vehicles registered with this taxpayer’s e-TIN. It has been seen that this taxpayer’s e-TIN. In 1996, Toyota brand car was registered in the name of Tajul Islam. In addition, in 2002 Mir Hossain Majumdar’s Toyota, the same year. Delwar Hossain Khokon Tata, in 2003. Kamrul Hasan’s Toyota, in 2007. Toyota in the name of Mahbubur Rahman, Toyota in the name of Sanda Rita Adhikari in the same year, in 2009. Toyota in the name of Khurshid Alam, in 2010. Toyota in the name of Rafiqul Majumdar, a Toyota in 2016 and in 2018. A Toyota car was registered in the name of Nazrul Islam. The vehicle was registered in the name of Energy Pack Power Generation Limited in 2011, IFIC Bank in 2013, BRAC Bank in 2014, Janata Bank in 2015, Nettle Motors in 2018 and Mercantile Bank in 2019.
On the other hand, 18 vehicles were found in BRTA’s database in the name of a taxpayer named Syed Hannanur Rashid. There is a car in the name of the taxpayer. The rest of the vehicles have been registered with the taxpayer’s e-TIN. A question has arisen as to how BRTA registers one person’s E-TIN in the name of another.
According to sources, senior lawyer and former Deputy Attorney General Abdul Hai is a regular tax payer. Currently he is 64-65 years old. The veteran lawyer once owned two cars. In the past five-six years ago, he sold a car. He did not receive a message from BRTA for fingerprints during the transfer of ownership. As a result, even if the car is sold, the ownership has not changed. The tax office taxed the two vehicles as the TIN and vehicle were in BRTA’s database. As a result, this lawyer has to pay an additional tax of Tk 12,500 every year. The same complaint of a taxpayer named Farhad Hossain. He works in a software company. He had two cars in his name. Two years ago, he sold a car. But he did not receive any messages during the change of ownership. As a result, two vehicles are showing in his name in the BRTA database, thus he is trapped. The tax office checked the TIN from the BRTA database and taxed the two vehicles in its file. As a result, even if he has one car, he has to pay tax of Tk 12,000 every year for two cars.
103 vehicle registration with one TIN
According to NBR sources, 103 vehicles have been registered in the name of different persons with the e-TIN of a taxpayer named Tanya Jasmine in Chittagong. Such a terrible fraud has happened in Chittagong BRTA. Tax Zone, Chittagong has written to BRTA regional office to take legal action against the owners of these vehicles. After verifying the information of that taxpayer from BRTA, the taxpayer is informed. Later the taxpayer informed the tax office that only one vehicle was registered with his e-TIN. The rest of the vehicles are registered in the name of different persons using their e-TINs.
BRTA Chairman Noor Mohammad Majumder’s mobile phone was called for a few days to get a statement on this matter, but he did not receive it. He did not reply even though he sent a message. A BRTA official told on condition of anonymity that BRTA tries to collect all the documents while registering a vehicle. In that case E-TIN is also taken. However, the vehicle is registered in the name of the holder of e-TIN. If one’s car is registered with another person’s e-TIN, BRTA investigates if someone complains.
An official of NBR’s income tax department told that many taxpayers own cars but do not show them in their returns. We are using BRTA’s database to bring the car owners under tax. It has also been beneficial. Many taxpayers do not have vehicles on file, we identified vehicles by checking the BRTA database. I have collected the tax. We have received many complaints that multiple vehicles are registered with one TIN. A car may be owned by the taxpayer. The rest of the vehicle registrations are done with that TIN. Taxpayers have complained in many circles. from the tax zone or the taxpayer, himself informed the BRTA authorities. He said that a ring of brokers got taxpayers registered using TINs in return for money. So many cars suddenly appear in the tax payer’s file, one should be afraid. If a taxpayer complains, the tax office will investigate.