Facebook is currently the most popular social media in Bangladesh. This multinational Facebook is taking money from the country instantly from the 15 second advertisement that is seen on the Facebook scroll. Not only Facebook, popular search engine Google, cloud computing Amazon, multinational technology company Microsoft, video streaming Zoom, social media LinkedIn and Dropbox are also taking money from the country. In the last fiscal year 2023-24, the 18 companies registered by Moosak have taken about Tk 833.86 crore from the country through advertising.
Accordingly, these multinational companies have taken an average of Tk 69.42 crore per month, which is about Tk 2.31 crore per day. Out of this Facebook has earned the most Tk 318 crore. And in the last fiscal year, the government got about Tk 124 crores of VAT from this income. It is alleged that the government does not receive any VAT on the payment of online advertisements outside the banking channel. However, neither NBR nor VAT office has the capacity to monitor online advertisements. As a result, you have to rely on the account given by the organization. If monitoring is done, the government could have collected more VAT from the advertisements in the virtual world, said those concerned.
According to NBR sources, 18 non-resident MUSC registered companies have filed VAT and return on income in FY 2023-24. This year, two more institutions have taken the registration of VAT. The two new registered companies are Google Digital In and Pedal.com Market. 18 non-resident companies are two companies of search engine Google. The companies are Google Asia Pacific Pte Ltd. and Google Ireland Ltd. Facebook’s three are Facebook Ireland Ltd., Facebook Payments International Ltd. and Facebook Technologies Ireland Ltd. Netflix Pte Ltd., Amazon.com Services, Amazon Advertising LLC, Amazon Web Services Inc., LinkedIn Singapore Pte Ltd., Zoho Corporation Pte Ltd., Zoom Video Communications Inc., Microsoft Regional Sales Pte Ltd., Turni Tin India, Proxima Veta Pte, University of London UK, Dropbox International Ireland and The Rocket Science Group LLL.
According to the calculations of NBR, 18 companies in the social media and technology sector in the outgoing fiscal year 2023-24 have taken away about Tk 833.06 crore from advertising sector from Bangladesh. As such, these 18 institutions took an average of Tk 69.42 crore from the country every month, which is about two crore 31 lakh taka per day. And in one yearTk 124.95 crore was paid as VAT at the rate of 15 percent against the income. According to that, the average VAT collected per month is Tk 10.41 crore. It has also been seen that the income and VAT collection was low in the beginning of the financial year 2023-24, but the income and VAT collection increased at the end.
On the other hand, social media Facebook has taken the most money from the country. Facebook registration has been taken from three companies. These three institutions earned about Tk 318 crore from Bangladesh in the last financial year, against which they paid about Tk 47.7 million in VAT. Apart from this, the Singapore company Proxima earned the second highest income of about Tk 256.86 crore, of which VAT was paid about Tk 38.52 crore. And Google’s three companies earned about Tk 148.75 crore, of which VAT paid about Tk 22.31 crore. In addition, Amazon’s three companies have paid Tk 5.56 crore VAT against Tk 37.1 crore, Netflix has paid Tk 4.8 lakh VAT on income of Tk 27.23 crore, Microsoft has paid Tk 2.13 lakh VAT on income of Tk 14.2 million, Zoom Video Tk 8.45 crore income paid VAT Tk 1.26 crore, Zoho Corporation paid Tk 1.85 crore income VAT paid Tk 27 lakh, Tarni Tin paid Tk 2.43 crore income VAT paid Tk 36 lakh, University of London Tk 6.80 crore Income tax paid Tk 1 crore, Dropbox paid income tax Tk 1.65 crore, income tax Tk 24 and The Rocket Science gave income tax Tk 71.10 lakh.
On the other hand, as of the current financial year 2024-25, it has been seen that in July of the current financial year, 20 non-resident companies in the social media and technology sector like Facebook and Google have earned about Tk 501.8 million from Bangladesh, against which they have paid about Tk 75.2 million in VAT at the rate of 15 percent. money Whereas the income of 2023-24 financial year in July was Tk 27.40 crore, against which the VAT paid was about Tk 4.11 crore. In other words, compared to July of the last financial year, the income in July of the current financial year has increased by about Tk 22.78 crore. And the VAT has increased by about Tk 3.41 crore. Realization growth is 83.13 percent.
On the other hand, in the month of July, the students and the masses formed a movement in the country to demand quota reform. By the end of July, the movement intensified. Many students were martyred and many injured in police firing. In the end this movement turned into a coup d’état toppling the government. The Awami League government fell on August 5 in the face of resistance from the students. The people of the country got rid of 16 years of misrule. In that historic month of August, the income of these companies in the social media and technology sector in Bangladesh decreased compared to July, with which the VAT collection decreased. In the month of August, 20 non-resident companies earned about Tk 53.71 million from Bangladesh, against which VAT was collected at about Tk 8.5 million. Whereas last financial year in August the income was Tk 51.42 crore, against which the VAT was collected about Tk 7.71 crore. Although compared to August of the last financial year, the income has increased by Tk 2.29 crore in the month of August of the current financial year. And VAT has increased by about Tk 34 lakhs. The collection growth is only 4.46 percent. Both revenue and VAT hit in August compared to July. And the submission of returns for the month of September of the current financial year is not over yet.
VAT officials said there was no business momentum in the country from late July to mid-August. The social media and technology sector organizations have been hit hard. Due to the decrease in their income, the VAT collection was also not as expected. But the situation is gradually normalizing. As a result, VAT collection may increase in September. No ability to monitor online advertisements: According to sources, NBR or VAT office does not have the ability or cannot monitor how many advertisements have been given by any organization in the country on online platforms, especially virtual worlds such as Facebook, Google and Microsoft. As a result, the VAT office has to collect VAT by accepting the income shown by the companies in their monthly submission (VAT return). There are complaints that many companies in the country advertise in these virtual worlds. But the payment for that advertisement is made outside the country. The government does not receive VAT from these advertisements as they are not paid through banking channels in the country. Also, within the country some advertisement bills are not paid through banking channels. Besides, the popular video streaming YouTube is yet to register VAT in Bangladesh. Although many domestic companies advertise in these companies, they do not receive VAT from these companies.
