Corporate Taxation in Bangladesh

Taxation- one of the major sources of public revenue to meet a country's revenue and development expenditures with a view to accomplishing some economic and social objectives, such as redistribution of income, price stabilization and discouraging harmful consumption. It supplements other sources of public finance such as issuance of currency notes and coins, charging for public goods and services and borrowings. The term Tax has been derived from the French word Taxe and etymologically, the Latin word Taxare is related to the term 'tax', which means 'to charge'. Tax is 'a contribution exacted by the state'. It is a non-penal but compulsory and unrequited transfer of resources from the private to the public sector, levied based on predetermined criteria. Corporate tax or company tax refers to a tax imposed on entities that are taxed at the entity level in a particular jurisdiction. Such taxes may include income or other taxes. The tax systems of most countries impose an income tax at the entity level on certain type(s) of entities (company or corporation). Many systems additionally tax owners or members of those entities on dividends or other distributions by the entity to the members. The tax generally is imposed on net taxable income. Net taxable income for corporate tax is generally financial statement income with modifications, and may be defined in great detail within the system. The rate of tax varies by jurisdiction. The tax may have an alternative base, such as assets, payroll, or income computed in an alternative manner.

History of Corporate Taxation in Bangladesh:

Bangladesh inherited a system of taxation from its past British and Pakistani rulers. The system, however, developed based on generally accepted canons and there had been efforts towards rationalizing the tax administration for optimizing revenue collection, reducing tax evasion and preventing revenue leakage through system loss. Taxes include narcotics duty (collected by the Department of Narcotics Control, Ministry of Home Affairs), land revenue (administered by the Ministry of Land and collected at local Tahsil offices numbered on average, one in every two Union Parishads), non-judicial stamp (collected under the Ministry of Finance), registration fee (collected by the Registration Directorate of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs) and motor vehicle tax (collected under the Ministry of Communication). The tax structure in the country consists of both direct (income tax, gift tax, land development tax, non-judicial stamp, registration, immovable property tax, etc) and indirect (customs duty, excise duty, motor vehicle tax, narcotics and liquor duty, VAT, SD, foreign travel tax,

TT, electricity duty, advertisement tax, etc) taxes. The present land revenue system of Bangladesh has its base in the East Bengal state acquisition and tenancy act 1950 which established a direct contract between the taxpayer and the government. The most important tax on the value of transferred property is the non-judicial stamp tax (levied under the Stamp Act 1899), which has been in existence since January 1899. Current rates of non-judicial stamp duty are provided in the First Schedule of the Finance Act 1998, ranging from Tk. 4 to Tk. 10,000 in case of absolute rate, or from 0.07% to 1.5% of the value of consideration in case of ad valorem rate. The judicial stamp tax is being levied under the Court Fees Act 1870, although the levy of court fees originated in the introduction of the Bengal Regulation No. 38 of 1795. The first sales tax was introduced in the former Central Provinces of India in 1938. In Bengal, sales tax was adopted in 1941. In 1948, sales tax was transferred as a central tax under the General Sales Tax Act of 1948. The Sales Tax Act 1951 came into force on 1 July 1951 by repealing the Pakistan General Sales Tax Act of 1948. Until 1982, sales tax was being collected under the 1951 Act, which was replaced by the Sales Tax Ordinance 1982. The VAT law was promulgated by repealing the Business. Income tax was first introduced in the subcontinent by the British in 1860 to make up the revenue deficit caused by the sepoy revolt, 1857. After independence of Bangladesh, income tax was made effective under the Income Tax Act 1922 passed on the basis of the recommendations of the All-India Income Tax Committee appointed in 1921. Currently, income tax has been imposed under the Income Tax Ordinance 1984 (ITO) promulgated on the basis of recommendations of the Final Report of the Taxation Enquiry Commission submitted in April 1979. Income taxpayers (assesses) are classified as individuals, partnership firms, Hindu undivided

Taxation of Corporations
Many countries impose corporate tax or company tax on the income or capital of some types of legal entities. A similar tax may be imposed at state or lower levels. The taxes may also be referred to as income tax or capital tax. Entities treated as partnerships are generally not taxed at the entity level. Most countries tax all corporations doing business in the country on income from that country. Many countries tax all income of corporations organized in the country. Company income subject to tax is often determined much like taxable income for individuals. Generally, the tax is imposed on net profits. In some jurisdictions, rules for taxing companies may differ significantly from rules for taxing individuals. Certain corporate acts, like reorganizations, may not be

taxed. Some types of entities may be exempt from tax. Many countries tax corporate entities on income and also tax the owners when the corporation pays a dividend. Where the owners are taxed, a withholding tax may be imposed. Generally, these taxes on owners are not referred to as corporate tax. Corporations may be taxed on their incomes, property, or existence by various jurisdictions. Many jurisdictions impose a tax based on the existence or equity structure of the corporation. For example, Maryland imposes a tax on corporations organized in that state based on the number of shares of capital stock issued and outstanding. Many jurisdictions instead impose a tax based on stated or computed capital, often including retained profits. Most jurisdictions tax corporations on their income. Generally, this tax is imposed at a specific rate or range of rates on taxable income as defined within the system. Some systems have a separate body of law or separate provisions relating to corporate taxation. In such cases, the law may apply only to entities and not to individuals operating a trade. Such laws may differentiate between broad types of income earned by corporations and tax such types of income differently. Generally, however, most such systems tax all income of a corporation in the same manner. Some systems tax corporations under the same framework of tax law as individuals. In such systems, there are normally taxation differences related to differences between the inherent natures of corporations and individuals or unincorporated entities. For example, individuals are not formed, amalgamated, or acquired, and corporations do not generally incur medical expenses except by way of compensating individuals. Many systems allow tax credits for specific items. Such direct reductions of tax are commonly allowed for foreign taxes on the same income and for withholding tax. Often these credits are the same as those available to individuals or for members of flow through entities such as partnerships. Most systems tax both domestic and foreign corporations. Often, domestic corporations are taxed on worldwide income while foreign corporations are taxed only on income from sources within the jurisdiction. Many jurisdictions imposing an income tax impose such tax income from a permanent

establishment within the jurisdiction.

Corporations are also subject to property tax, payroll tax, withholding tax, excise tax, customs duties,

value added tax, and other common taxes, generally in the same manner as other taxpayers. These,
however, are rarely referred to as corporate tax.

Bangladesh Corporate Tax Rates:

I n Bangladesh, the principal direct taxes are personal income taxes and corporate income taxes, and a value-added tax (VAT) of 15% levied on all important consumer goods. The top income tax rate for individuals is 25%. For the 2004/05 tax year (July 1 2004June 30 2005) the top corporate rate was 45%. However, publicly traded companies registered in Bangladesh are charged a lower rate of 30%. Banks, financial institutions and insurance companies are charged the 45% rate. All other companies are taxed at the 37.5% rate. Effective 1 July 2002, the VAT rate on computer hardware and software was reduced to 7.5%, and certain agricultural equipment and electricity supplied to the agricultural sector was exempted from VAT altogether. VAT on the transfer of land is also to be abolished. Essential agricultural implements and irrigation pumps had previously been excluded from certain taxes. Corporate tax rates for industrial companies whose shares are publicly traded is 35% and the rate of those whose shares are not publicly traded is 40%. Tax rates on income of all other companies including banks, financial institutions, insurance companies and local authorities is 45%. Any income collected or gained by a company doing business in Bangladesh, whether resident or not is taxable. Corporate tax rates for industrial companies whose shares are publicly traded is 35% and the rate of those whose shares are not publicly traded is 40%. Tax rates on income of all other

companies including banks, financial institutions, insurance companies and local authorities is 45%. Companies enjoying tax holiday are required to invest only 25% to 30% of their income in other activities as per rules of the National board of Revenue (NBR).
The standard rate of corporate tax in Bangladesh is 27.5% in 2010 - 2011 tax year. This is the standard corporate tax rate applicable to publicly traded companies in Bangladesh, a list including tax rates for other corporations are as follows: Publicly Traded Company Non-publicly Traded Company Bank, Insurance & Financial Company Mobile Phone Operator Company Publicly Traded Mobile Operator Company 27.5% 37.5% 42.5% 45% 35%

If any publicly traded company (excluding Mobile Operator Company) declares more than 20% dividend, 10% rebate on total tax allowed.

Conclusion
Though the rate of tax revenue is to GDP is very negligible, despite the government is trying to maximize its tax revenue through different method. But the government should also remind the cannon of convenience while collecting tax from assesses. As we are living in a civilized society - should come forward to pay taxes to government in order to conduct the administrative, defense and development activities of the country. Otherwise we would not be able to prove ourselves as civilized people. Tax is the most important in the hand of the government to control the economy as well as the inflection. It also helps in push money to the economy, develop certain source of the economy and control some other activities of the economy. No Government can run its and perform administration works without collecting tax as a source of revenue. So, the Government imposes tax over the company and the corporations. On the other hand Government can also intensive to the infant and certain basic industry for protection through its tax policy