Taxmen found that most firearm holders, who obtained licenses during the Awami League's tenure (the last 15 years), do not have Tax Identification Numbers (TINs) and did not pay taxes.
Despite the requirement for a TIN to own firearms, influential individuals have obtained licenses by misusing power and violating tax laws, according to officials from the National Board of Revenue (NBR).
The observation was revealed during a virtual meeting chaired by NBR Chairman Abdur Rahman Khan. All members and commissioners of the NBR (tax wing) participated in the meeting on Thursday.
To obtain a legal firearm license, any individual (military or civilian) must comply with the Arms Rules Act of 1924.
According to existing law, in order to buy weapons, certain criteria have to be met. These include being a legal citizen of Bangladesh between the ages of 25 and 70, if life is at risk, a return of over Tk 2 lakh must be filed annually to obtain a firearm license and permission to import or purchase up to two firearms from a dealer.
Consequently, the owners are required to have an annual legal income exceeding Tk 17.50 lakh.
However, upon inspecting the cases, the NBR officials found that the majority of license holders had not met the criteria including not paying the taxes and did not possess TINs.
According to the Bangladesh Police Headquarters source, the interim government has suspended all firearm licenses issued during the 15-year Awami League regime. Of these, approximately 13,500 firearms have already been handed over to law enforcement agencies.
Speaking anonymously, an official said that commissioners from various tax zones have been assigned the task of identifying the actual number of such license holders and determining the next steps.
During the meeting, the commissioners informed the NBR chairman that they were facing difficulties gathering accurate information due to a lack of cooperation from district administrations and law enforcement agencies.
Syed Zakir Hossain, commissioner of Sylhet Taxes, told The Business Post, “We have collected the list of registered firearms and found that many license holders lack TINs and do not pay taxes. However, we could not determine the exact number of these individuals.”
After inspecting the returns, we will be able to know the actual number, he added.
Another official of the tax zone said that they have found 500 license holders so far have no TINs after inspecting 700 cases.
