Yunus to pay Tk 120m to NBR after losing income tax appeal

The High Court dismisses his applications challenging the tax liability imposed on donations he made to three charitable trusts

The High Court has dismissed three applications by Muhammad Yunus challenging the imposition of taxes worth around Tk 150 million on money donated by the Nobel laureate to his charitable trusts.

In its verdict on Wednesday, the bench of Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar and Justice Sardar Md Rashed Jahangir on Wednesday ruled that the tax liability against Yunus under the Gift Act was valid.

As a result, Yunus, who had deposited Tk 30 million with the High Court to appeal against the decision of the Taxes Appellate Tribunal in the case, must now pay the remaining Tk 120 million to the National Board of Revenue, according to Attorney General AM Amin Uddin.

At the hearing, Yunus's lawyers argued that he was entitled to a tax exemption as he had gifted the money to the three trusts. However, the state told the court that his case did not fall under the tax exemption.

According to case documents, the NBR issued three notices to Yunus during the tax years 2011-2012 and 2013-2014, demanding Tk 154 million as 'gift tax' against his donations totalling Tk 767.3 million.

Yunus later filed a case with the Taxes Appellate Tribunal challenging the validity of the notices. In 2014, the tribunal ruled in the NBR's favour and dismissed the case, prompting Yunus to file three income tax reference cases with the High Court.