Jewellers legalise Tk 240 million gold, silver, diamond on first day of tax fair

At least 35 Bangladesh jewellers have legalised their undeclared stocks of gold, silver and diamond worth Tk 240 million on the first day of Gold Tax Fair.

The National Board of Revenue or NBR organised the fair from Sunday in association with Bangladesh Jewellers Samiti or BAJUS, giving the traders the scope to legitimise any undocumented gold, silver and diamond in their possession by paying taxes.

Due to an absence of any policy to import gold, there had been no scope to legally feed the ever-increasing annual demand for gold, which, according to a study, is somewhere between 18 and 36 tonnes.

Women visit a shop at the three-day long gold fair held in Dhaka’s Hotel InterContinental on Sunday.

The government last year cleared a policy to import gold through dealers authorised by the Bangladesh Bank.

On May 28 this year, the NBR issued an SRO outlining the facility to legalise undeclared gold.

According to the gazette notification, traders can get the amnesty by paying taxes of Tk 1,000 per Bhori of gold, Tk 6,000 per carat of diamond and Tk 50,000 per Bhori of silver.

Officials hope gold, silver and diamond worth a total of Tk 4 billion will be legalised across Bangladesh during the three-day fair.

Speakers sitting on the stage during the lunch of the three-day long gold fair at Dhaka’s Hotel InterContinental on Sunday.

In Dhaka, the fair was being held at InterContinental Hotel. The fair was also organised at divisional towns.

BAJUS President Ganga Charan Malakar’s Venus Jewellers, General Secretary Dilip Kumar Agarwala’s Diamond World, and Apon Jewellers owned by Gulzar Ahmed documented gold, silver and diamond worth Tk 210 million in Dhaka on the first day of the fair.