Initiatives to be taken to collect tax from foreigners

The government is taking initiatives to collect tax from foreign workers in Bangladesh, who entered the country on travel visas but later changed their visa types, according to the minutes of a recent meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) on Combating Money Laundering and Funding of Terrorism.

According to the minutes, many foreigners enter Bangladesh with travel visas at different times but afterwards change their visas and get into high-paid jobs.

It is hard to collect taxes from them properly as they are not under strict monitoring, the committee said, adding that now initiatives have been taken in this regard. The National Board of Revenue (NBR), Special Branch of Police (SB) and the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) will work together effectively to this end.

However, the government lacks specific information on the numbers and location of the illegal foreign workers staying in Bangladesh, and the amount of money they are smuggling out of the country.

A study by Transparency International Bangladesh in 2020 put the number of foreign nationals working illegally to at least 2.5 lakh. It also claimed that they are illegally smuggling around Tk26,000 crore abroad every year.

When asked about the issue, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen acknowledged the existence of foreign nationals illegally living in the country but admitted that the government does not have information on their locations. 

Anyone staying in the country after their visa expires is supposed to be fined, said the minister, adding that Bangladesh has tightened visa regulations considerably.

According to SB, the law enforcement agency responsible for monitoring foreigners in the country, Indian, South Korean, Chinese and Americans account for the majority of the foreign nationals staying here illegally. Many of them came to the country illegally on tourist visas while some came on business or ‘on arrival’ visas.

Most of the illegal foreign nationals take up jobs in the garment and textile sectors. In addition, they also work in various government development projects, power generation plants, international NGOs, hotels, restaurants, etc. 

According to sources at the Security Services Department of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Bangladesh has no detention centre in Bangladesh to hold illegal foreigners while keeping them in jail requires filing a case which is time consuming and costly.

According to the law, 33 types of visas are issued to foreign nationals entering Bangladesh, including visa on arrival (VOA); type B visa for business or business representatives; A3 visa for experts or consultants, officials-employees, workers engaged in projects under bilateral or multilateral agreements signed between development cooperation organisations and the government; type T visa for travel; and type P visa for sportsmen. 

Citizens of all European countries, 13 countries of the former Soviet Union and the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Egypt and Turkey get instant visas on arrival. According to immigration authorities, citizens of these countries are most likely to illegally stay here after their visa expires.

Meanwhile, there are limitations in arresting and expelling illegal foreign nationals.

According to an SB report submitted to the Ministry of Home Affairs, many illegal foreigners deliberately hide their passports, making it hard for authorities to determine their citizenship to repatriate them. Also, many countries do not have embassies in Bangladesh which makes collecting the foreigners travel documents and verifying their citizenship process time consuming.

Besides, countries that have embassies do not cooperate immediately at times. If a case is filed against those staying illegally, they stay in this country on the pretext of the case.

The report also said section 14 of the Foreign Order 1951 deals with repatriation and accommodation expenses of foreign nationals. The Immigration Police is supposed to get an allocation to cover the cost of repatriation, including cost of air tickets and arrangements for keeping illegal immigrants in ‘safe homes’ from the time of arrest until repatriation. But there is no safe home and no provision for repatriation.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, who heads the NCC, said SB and NBR have been instructed to prioritise on the provision of necessary information for the purpose of tax collection from foreign nationals.

According to SB sources, no foreigner can work in this country without the approval of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA). Meaning, it is possible to solve this problem with coordination from all concerned organisations.