Latifur, Prothom Alo, Daily Star win tax awards

Latifur, Prothom Alo, Daily Star win tax awards
 

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) on Wednesday honoured 84 families with the title ‘Kar Bahadur Poribar’ or 'Family of Tax Heroes’ for paying taxes regularly.

It was the first time such a title was conferred, with Drug International owner Khaza Tajmahal and her family topping the list.

Businessman ABM Shafiul Alam’s family was next, followed by Transcom Group chairman Latifur Rahman and his family.

They were honoured at a programme organised by the National Board of Revenue at its headquarters at Agargaon in Dhaka on Wednesday.

Finance minister AMA Muhith was present at the function as the chief guest while it presided over by NBR chairman Md Nojibur Rahman.

In the print and electronic media category, three out of the four winners are owned by Transcom Group. They are Mediastar, which owns Prothom Alo, Mediaworld, which owns The Daily Star, and Transcraft, which take care of the two dailies' printing.

East West Media Group, a concern of Bashundhara Group, complete the list of four.

Editor and publisher of The Daily Star Mahfuz Anam was honoured for paying the highest amount of taxes among the journalists.

Editor and publisher of the Prothom Alo Matiur Rahman was also among the top five taxpaying journalists.

Finance minister AMA Muhith handed over a crest and the tax card to the editors, who were awardees last year as well.

MA Malek, editor of the Dainik Azadi published from Chittagong, Channel i news editor Shaikh Siraj and the Daily Samakal editor Golam Sarwar were handed the tax cards.

Chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on the finance ministry M Abdur Razzaque handed over the crest to Transcom Group chairman Latifur Rahman.

The quality of NBR’s services is now better, Latifur Rahman said at the programme, adding, "But, the service must get even better."

“The taxpayers have various types of demands. As they pay taxes, the government should take their wants into consideration," he observed.

Former adviser to a caretaker government Rokia Afzal Rahman, who is the chairperson of Mediaworld, received the award on behalf of the company.

“It’s really a matter of huge pride for me. We have been paying taxes for a long time, but at last the recognition comes. We have been awarded as the best taxpayer for the second successive year and we believe we will keep this trend up," she said.Transcom Group director Arshad Waliur Rahman received the tax card and crest on behalf of Mediastar Limited while Transcraft executive director Jalaluddin Akand received the award on behalf of the company.

Editor's Note

It is a matter of immense pride that the editor-publisher of Prothom Alo has been named one of the highest taxpayers for the second successive year in the newspaper category. Mahfuz Anam, the editor-publisher of our sister concern The Daily Star, has also been honoured with the same accolade. On top of this, the Transcraft Limited, which is another concern of Transcom Group and the mother organisation of these two newspapers, has also been awarded with the same honour. The chairman of the Transcom Group, Latifur Rahman, and his family have been honoured with "Kor Bahadur" or 'Tax Heroes' as well.

On behalf of the editor-publisher and the staff of Prothom Alo, we thank the Board of Directors. They have been conscious about paying the taxes besides upholding the highest ethical standard and ensuring financial transparency.

We strongly believe the trust and confidence of the readers should be a media house's biggest strength. And one cannot just own it, rather it has to be earned. And to earn it, the organisation not only has to practice objective journalism, but it also has to be transparent about financial matters. We believe that financial stablity is a prerequisite for free thinking and objective journalism. If we are not transparent about this, how can we write independently, without any fear? We hope the readers and advertisers will keep supporting us as they have always done. And we would like to thank the government and the National Board of Revenue (NBR) for introducing this award in the media category.

Latifur, Prothom Alo, Daily Star win tax awards

Sourch:Prothom Alo