NBR deadlines traders with June 30 to legalise undeclared gold stocks

The National Board of Revenue or NBR has slapped traders with a June 30 deadline to declare and legalise their precious metal stocks by Jun 30.

The amnesty to legitimise any undocumented gold in their possession by paying a tax of Tk 1000 for each Bhori will not be extended beyond the current deadline, warns NBR Chairman Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan.

He issued the warning at the inaugural three-day long gold fair at Dhaka’s Hotel InterContinental on Sunday.

Traders hoped the fair would enable the legalisation of precious metal stocks that have so far remained unaccounted for as a result of the new regulation.

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

Traders come to pay tax at the three-day long gold fair held at Dhaka’s Hotel InterContinental on Sunday.

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. 

The NBR chairman said, "Jewellery traders have been calling for measures to regulate gold for a while. This was the only trade that lacked a clear regulatory framework."

"No-one could explain how the gold was coming in or where it was going. But large amounts of gold are regularly seized by airport authorities."

Devoid of proper guidelines on the matter, traders were unable to declare their possession of the precious metals with any certainty, according to Mosharraf.

Those who paid their taxes declared the possession on the basis of its monetary value.