Private universities to pay 15pc tax, Appelate Division verdict
Court Correspondent
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Tuesday declared that all private universities in the country have to be paid Tk 15 per cent income tax.
A three-member bench of the Appellate Division, led by Justice Borhanuddin, passed the order after disposing of an appeal filed by the government seeking 15 per cent income tax from private universities.
Attorney general AM Amin Uddin represented the state, while senior lawyer AF Hasan was present on behalf of the writ petitioner.
The Appellate Division on April 6, 2023, upheld a High Court order asking the National Board of Revenue (NBR) not to collect income tax from private universities in the country.
NBR issued a gazette notification on June 28, 2007, imposing the 15 per cent income tax on private universities, to be effective from July 1 of that year.
In another gazette notification, the NBR imposed the same 15 per cent income tax on private universities, medical, engineering colleges and ICT institutes.
After that, different universities filed 46 writs challenging the government's decision.
