Nobel laureate economist Dr Muhammad Yunus has to pay Tk12.28 crore in taxes to the National Board of Revenue (NBR), the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court ruled today.

A four-member appellate bench headed by Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique on Sunday (23 July) rejected the application of Dr Yunus seeking permission to leave to appeal against the verdict of the High Court declaring the tax imposed by the NBR as valid.

As a result, Dr Yunus will have to pay Tk122,874,000 tax imposed by the NBR.

On 17 July, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court adjourned the hearing on a petition filed by Dr Muhammad Yunus seeking leave to appeal against the NBR verdict by the High Court till 23 July.

Earlier on 21 June, a leave to appeal was filed against the High Court verdict. On 9 July, the chamber court fixed 17 July for a hearing in the Appellate Division.

According to the petition, NBR served three separate notices claiming Tk12,28,74,000 as tax against Tk61.57 crore as donation during 2011-2012 fiscal year, Tk1.60 crore tax against Tk8.15 crore as a donation in 2012-2013 FY and Tk1.50 crore as tax against Tk7 crore as donation in 2013-2014 FY as per the Donation Tax-1990.

Dr Yunus claimed the tax against donation and challenged the validity notices of NBR and filed a case in the Appellate Tribunal. According to him, NBR cannot claim tax against donation as per law.

On 20 November, 2014, his application was rejected. Then in 2015, he filed three income tax reference cases in the High Court and suspended the effectiveness of donor claim notices after the preliminary hearing of the cases.

On 31 May, the High Court ruled that the donation imposed by the NBR against the money that he had donated to the three trusts established in his name considering the death and the welfare of the family members was valid. Following the verdict on 31 May, Attorney General AM Amin Uddin told reporters that Dr Yunus had donated Tk77 crore to three institutions, reports UNB.

"He says you do not have to pay taxes to the contrary. We said the NBR gave him a notice because of this. He later filed three reference cases in the High Court. The High Court references are correct. The petitions were dismissed. Now the tax demanded by the NBR will have to be paid. The NBR had demanded more than Tk15 crore. He (DR Yunus) has already given around Tk3 crore. Now the remaining Tk12 crore will have to be paid in taxes," he had added.