* Central bank limits 75pc transfers thru FCAs
* Foreigners taking away
* Tk 26,400cr every year illegally from BD.
* Foreigners evade tax Tk 12,000cr from income every year: NBR
Md Joynal Abedin Khan The Bangladesh Bank (BB) has set a limit on the percentage of income that foreign employees can transfer to their foreign currency accounts (FCAs) as the authorized dealer banks can monitor the amount being sent abroad to curb the tax dodging.
In a circular, the central bank mentioned that foreign nationals can transfer 75 percent of their monthly incomes to their FC accounts, BB sources said.
Earlier, foreign employees were allowed to transfer 100 percent of their monthly incomes to FC accounts but could only remit up to 75 percent of that amount, they said.
Authorised dealer banks said that it was difficult for them to monitor if foreign nationals were actually sending money within the limit or exceeding it, a high official of the BB said.
So, the Bangladesh Bank instructed the authorised dealer banks to allow foreign nationals to transfer a maximum of 75 percent of their monthly incomes to their FC accounts, the official added.
Authorised dealer banks may, out of the balances held in these accounts, allow debit or prepaid cards to be used for permissible transactions of FC account holders, including travel-related expenses, he added.
In this backdrop, At least 2.5 lakh foreigners from 44 countries are working in 21 sectors in the country. Of them, only 9,500 are paying tax regularly, said the sources of the National Board of Revenue (NBR). The foreigners are taking away Tk 26,400 crore every year illegally from Bangladesh, they said.
Thus, they evade taxes amounting to Tk 12,000 crore from their income
