Facebook is likely to appoint a VAT agent to ensure payment of value-added tax from their advertisement earnings from Bangladesh market. “We have talked to the government. The company will abide by all the existing laws of the country, Faceboo’s Public Policy Director in India and South Asia Shivnath Thukral told The Independent. “We hope we will be able to do everything smoothly,” he added. In response to a quarry about how much money Facebook makes from Bangladesh market, Thukral said, the subject is not related to his department. He only looks after policy matters of the company. So he couldn’t say anything regarding this. Facebook will also appoint a policy manager in Bangladesh, said Amy Sawitta Lefevre, Facebook’s policy communication manager for emerging markets. Earlier, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) had directed foreign platforms to appoint local value added tax (VAT) agents who would broadcast advertisements within the country from the next fiscal year. The local agents would have to pay 15 per cent VAT on behalf of the foreign entities, NBR officials had said. The revenue authorities gave the directive to rev up the implementation of the VAT and Supplementary Duty Act, 2012, from July 1 of this year. The NBR is taking steps to mop up untaxed money from online advertising which is said to have been siphoned off from the country’s economy. In November 2017, the Newspaper Owners’ Association of Bangladesh (NOAB) had sent a letter to the finance ministry, the central bank and the NBR, voicing its grievances over the rise in digital advertisements. Facebook and Google generate massive earnings from digital advertisements but do not pay any tax, the association complained. As the two tech giants have no office in Bangladesh, they remain outside the purview of Bangladesh’s laws. However, it is mandatory for any company seeking to do business in a country to comply with the local laws.
Source – The Independent.
