The National Board of Revenue (NBR) on Monday said it has waived the income tax for Grameen Bank for the next five years to remove discrimination in this field.
Grameen Bank has been enjoying the tax exemption since its establishment in 1983. But the benefits were stopped in 2020. Grameen Bank was launched by Nobel Peace laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus, currently the chief adviser of the interim government.
The tax exemption until 2029 was reinstated on October 10, Thursday in a statutory order after a four-year stoppage.
The NBR in a press release said that to end the existing discrimination Grameen Bank has been given the waiver on all income until December 31, 2029, on some conditions.
It did not provide any details of the conditions.
It mentioned that other institutions operating homogeneous microcredit programmes same as Grameen Bank are enjoying the tax benefits.
However, Grameen Bank will still be required to submit annual income tax returns, as per the gazette.
According to the press release since the inception of Grameen Bank- established through the Grameen Bank Ordinance 1983 - the income tax was waived on any income of the said institution, exemption from paying super tax or business profit tax.
Established through the Grameen Bank Ordinance, 1983 and the subsequent Grameen Bank Act, 2013, Grameen Bank is not a Scheduled Bank and the institution primarily operates microcredit activities, the NBR press release said.
It said that Grameen Bank does not enjoy the same tax exemption as per the Income Tax Act, 2023, despite providing homogenous services i.e. microcredit, only because it is not registered by the Microcredit Regulatory Authority.
However, Grameen Bank will still be required to submit annual income tax returns, as per the gazette.
