Act/Law wise: Judgment of Supreme Court of Bangladesh (HCD)



Value Added Tax Act, 1991 (VAT Act)
Section/Order/ Article/Rule/ Regulation Head Note Parties Name Reference/Citation
Section 2, 3 (গ), and 5

The VAT Act requires the service recipient to pay an amount of 15% VAT on all services received in Bangladesh on the basis of the value mentioned in section 5. As per section 3 (গ) of the VAT Act 1991, in case of providing service, the service providing entity was required to deposit the said applicable amount of 15% VAT to the government exchequer. Section 5(4) of the said Act provides that in case of providing service, the VAT will be charged on the total receivable amount (‘সর্বমোট প্রাপ্তির উপর’). As such, a conclusion may be drawn if section 3 (গ) is read along with section 5 (4) together with the definition of পণ’ (consideration) as given in section 2 (ণ ণ) of the VAT Act that VAT is always assessed or calculated on the basis of the total value receivable or received. ...Orascom Telecom Bangladesh Ltd Vs. BTRC & ors, (Civil), 7 SCOB [2016] HCD 115 ....View Full Judgment

Orascom Telecom Bangladesh Ltd Vs. BTRC & ors 7 SCOB [2016] HCD 115
Section 3 and 5

In view of sections 3 & 5 of the VAT Act 1991, the basic scheme of the VAT Act is that the VAT is calculated at the rate of 15% on the total value receivable and is always added to the total consideration value instead of deduction. Under no circumstances; it can be deducted or subtracted from the total value. In order to comply with the basic scheme of VAT Act and VAT Rules made thereunder, the BTRC lawfully mentioned the words ‘without any deduction’ in its memo dated 17 October 2011 – which means that the demanded money has to be paid by the petitioner to BTRC as it is, and, while calculating the VAT to be paid at source, the petitioner will have to add an amount calculating at the rate of 15% of the total demanded amount as VAT, withhold the same and deposit it in the exchequer directly within the stipulated time period. ...Orascom Telecom Bangladesh Ltd Vs. BTRC & ors, (Civil), 7 SCOB [2016] HCD 115 ....View Full Judgment

Orascom Telecom Bangladesh Ltd Vs. BTRC & ors 7 SCOB [2016] HCD 115
Section 9

Since the admitted allegation against the petitioners is that in spite of the increase of price of the raw materials as reflected from the concerned bills of entries and assessment orders thereon, the petitioners did not make any corresponding increase in the declared price of the finished products and since such circumstance was not evidently mentioned under any clauses from Clauses-‘Ka’ to ‘Ta’ under sub-section (1) of Section 9, we do not find as to how the directions of the concerned officers for readjusting the current account register of the petitioner, or for depositing certain amount through treasury challan, was amenable to the alterative remedy of written objection in view of the provisions under sub-section (2ka) of Section 9. ...City Vegetable Oil Mils Ltd & ors Vs. Commissioner, CEV & ors, (Civil), 3 SCOB [2015] HCD 108 ....View Full Judgment

City Vegetable Oil Mils Ltd & ors Vs. Commissioner, CEV & ors 3 SCOB [2015] HCD 108
Section 9

Value Added Tax Act, 1991
Section 9 And
Clause-Gha of Rule 22(1) of the VAT Rules, 1991:
Provisions under sub-section (2) of Section 9 provides that if someone takes rebate in the prohibited circumstances mentioned under sub-section (1), such rebate can be rejected by the concerned officer, who may also direct such person to do necessary adjustment in the current account register, namely Mushak-18, as required to be maintained in view of the provisions under Clause-Gha of Rule 22(1) of the VAT Rules, 1991. This sub-section (2) of Section 9 speaks about only for issuance of direction, not for direct action of adjustment in the current account register. ...City Vegetable Oil Mils Ltd & ors Vs. Commissioner, CEV & ors, (Civil), 3 SCOB [2015] HCD 108 ....View Full Judgment

City Vegetable Oil Mils Ltd & ors Vs. Commissioner, CEV & ors 3 SCOB [2015] HCD 108
Section 37 & 55

A notice under section 37 of the VAT Act cannot be issued without first determining the amount of evaded VAT if any. In doing so the authority have to issue notice under section 55(1) of the VAT Act 1991, claiming the evaded VAT and after giving an opportunity of hearing to the party concern, determine the amount of evaded VAT, under section 55(3) of the VAT Act 1991. After such determination of evaded VAT if the defaulter fails to repay the evaded VAT, only then, can proceed under section 37 along with other provisions of the VAT Act. ...Shuvash Chandra Das Vs. Customs, Excise & VAT App. Tribunal & ors, (Civil), 4 SCOB [2015] HCD 171 ....View Full Judgment

Shuvash Chandra Das Vs. Customs, Excise & VAT App. Tribunal & ors 4 SCOB [2015] HCD 171
Section 55(1)

No provision of the said Act of 1991 empowers the VAT authority to direct the petitioner as a VAT registered person to deliver any documents or records directly to any third party authority, i.e. Local and Revenue Audit Directorate. Neither a notice can be issued either directing and deposit of revenue or under section 55(1) of VAT Act on that Count. ...Singer BD Ltd & ors Vs. NBR & others, (Civil), 2 SCOB [2015] HCD 84
Thus the authority in which a discretion is vested can be compelled to exercise that discretion, but not to exercise it in any particular manner. In general, a discretion must be exercised only by the authority to which it is committed. The authority must genuinely address itself to the matter before it: it must not act under the dictation of another body or disable itself from exercising a discretion in each individual case. In the purported exercise of its discretion it must not do what it has been forbidden to do, nor must it do what it has not been authorized to do. ...Singer BD Ltd & ors Vs. NBR & others, (Civil), 2 SCOB [2015] HCD 84 ....View Full Judgment

Singer BD Ltd & ors Vs. NBR & others 2 SCOB [2015] HCD 84
Section 55 and 56

Section 56 cannot be construed or interpreted in an isolated manner. Section 55 and 56 must be read together and from a perusal of the same, it is evident that Section 56 is mandatorily preceded by Section 55 of the VAT Act, 1991 which prescribes the issuance of a Show- Cause Notice followed by other procedures and which is exhaustively laid out in the whole Section. The prescription said out in Section 55(1) (2)(3) are mandatory and no action or initiative can be taken or resorted to for realization of any unpaid, less paid or otherwise evaded etc amount, whatsoever under the provisions of Section 56 of the VAT Act, 1991, unless and until firstly the procedure laid out in Section 55 of the VAT Act has been exhausted by the authorities concerned. The principle of law is that Section 56 automatically presupposes a notice under section 55(1) of the Act, followed by the procedure laid out in Sub-section 2 & 3 of the said section 55 and which the respondents cannot avoid under any circumstances. ...Md. Sarowar Alamgir Vs. Bangladesh & Ors, (Civil), 3 SCOB [2015] HCD 137 ....View Full Judgment

Md. Sarowar Alamgir Vs. Bangladesh & Ors 3 SCOB [2015] HCD 137