The National Board of Revenue issued a gazette notification on Monday, scrapping two statutory regulatory orders granting tax waivers for Saima Wazed Putul鈥檚 Shuchona Foundation.
The orders were issued on April 6, 2016 and June 19, 2023 giving tax exemptions to Shuchona Foundation, a non-profit and voluntary organisation founded by Putul, daughter of now ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina.聽
In the notification, the NBR describes that under the powers conferred by sub-section (3) of section 76 of the Income Tax Act, 2023, they revoke the two statutory regulatory orders.
The 2023 order states that the government exempted the interest received on fixed and savings bank deposits, consultancy fees and research fees by Shuchana Foundation from the income tax payable for a period of five years under clause (b) of sub-section (4) of section 44 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 1984, under some specific conditions.
According to the 2023 order, the waivers apply to all incomes received under the Shuchana Foundation name and the incomes must be used to support people with autism, neurodevelopmental disorders or mental illnesses, as well as for the healthcare and welfare of the disabled.
According to the 2016 order, the NBR exempted tax on any portion of a taxpayer鈥簊 income donated to the foundation for the welfare of the disabled.
Earlier on January 28, the Anti-Corruption Commission said that it did not find Shuchona Foundation in its registered address at Dhanmondi in Dhaka city.
At that time, the ACC also said that Saima allegedly misused her influence as the daughter of a prime minister to secure financial benefits for Suchona Foundation.
Saima Wazed Putul is currently the regional director of the World Health Organisation for Southeast Asia region. The anti-corruption agency also said that the information Saima provided to the WHO on her eligibility for the post was not accurate.
Saima also faces ACC prosecution for allegations that she acquired a 10-katha plot in the diplomatic zone of the Purbachal New Town project in Dhaka through corruption, abusing her family鈥檚 political influence.