Good taxpayers
Since the taxes paid by the people to the government for development work can be compared to the blood coursing through the veins nourishing the human body, it is commendable that the government has started to recognise the good taxpayers. On the occasion of National Income Tax Day on 15 Sep 2010, the Finance Minister himself distributed crests to as many as 348 taxpayers from all parts of Bangladesh. I am surprised that no one from Dhaka or Chittagong, the dens of iniquity, was named in the DS report.
Recognition was for highest taxpayer of a district, oldest taxpayer, regular taxpayer, etc. However, the report did not contain the names of many of the prominent people, whose names were expected to head the list. After all many of these people head large conglomerates and a substantial number had been hauled up in the recent past for their corruption and criminal activities that included land grabbing, forex and local money laundering, VAT fraud, criminal activities, over and under invoicing, smuggling, bribery, etc. So much so that they even abandoned their high-priced Gas Guzzling Monstrosities (GGMs) purchased with black money, on the highways. Anyway, we have proved that crime DOES pay, as most may get all their seized money and goods back. The oldest regular taxpayer caught my eye for a very good reason. He has been paying taxes for 28 years only. This is nothing compared to my own contribution of income tax being paid regularly since 1955 i.e. 55 years without a break. But my contributions are quite modest. At the age of 77 I still work full time to maintain my family and last year paid Tk 12,915/- on the salary I receive. Therefore, I suppose I do not merit any recognition, much less any facilities in this age of materialism.
At the same time I must stress that the Finance Minister has done all senior citizens a disservice by slashing the profit rates on savings certificates and FDRs which was our anchor in our old age and in addition imposing a 10% tax on it. After that people of my age group can well ask the question how much longer are we supposed to keep on paying taxes without getting anything in return from the government?
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments