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State-owned Petrobangla paid its outstanding value added tax (VAT) and supplementary duty (SD) worth over Tk 65.30 billion to the government last month, officials said.
The sum of VAT and SD remained outstanding during the period between April 2015 and June 2016 which was paid in June last, they said.
By official count, the state-run corporation owed about Tk 316.71 billion to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) as VAT and SD arrears during the period between the fiscal year (FY) 2009-10 and January 2017.
State-owned gas companies collected VAT and SD worth Tk 132.78 billion from their clients during the period between the FY 2009-10 and January 2017, but they did not deposit the money with the public exchequer, according to the NBR.
As per Section 37 (3) of the VAT Law 1991, nearly Tk 90.80 billion got added as an accumulated interest on VAT and SD for non-payment on right time. From July 2009 to January 2017, state-run gas distribution companies under Petrobangla collected tax/duty from customers, but did not pay it to the national exchequer, a source said.
Currently, the agency has a surplus fund due to a hike in the price of gas, produced by international oil companies (IOCs), since March 2017.
The gross revenue of Petrobangla from sales of gas, gas-derived liquids, coal and granite stood at Tk 280.759 billion in the FY 2014-15. After paying SD and VAT, net income was Tk 253 billion, according to its annual report.
Gross expenses, comprising Tk 27.61 billion in SD and VAT along with Tk 219 billion in cost of sales, amounted to Tk 246 billion.
After paying income tax, net profit stood at Tk 32.71 billion. And on payment of dividend of Tk 8.91 million, net profit stood at Tk 31.82 billion, the report mentioned.
Earlier, the government formed a high-powered committee to realise outstanding VAT and SD from state-owned Petrobangla, officials said.