Campaign for VAT starts today
The revenue authority starts a weeklong campaign today to spread awareness on VAT and motivate people to pay the consumption tax so that the state can finance its growing expenses from domestic sources.
The National Board of Revenue will host VAT Week from December 9 to 15 in all divisional cities, including Dhaka.
The NBR will also observe VAT Day on December 10 to encourage people to become compliant by honouring the top nine VAT payers at the national level and 124 of the highest VAT payers at the district level in manufacturing, trade and services categories.
“We will also hold a VAT fair, similar to the income tax fair, in January,” NBR Chairman Md Nojibur Rahman said at a press meet at the NBR headquarters yesterday.
The NBR has been hosting VAT Day since 2010 and running campaigns to motivate people. It started recognising firms for compliance and payment of VAT since fiscal 2004-05 to encourage businesses to be compliant and deposit the actual VAT amount paid by consumers.
“Those who will pay tax and VAT properly will be fine. But we will chase those who will not comply,” said Rahman.
The NBR introduced VAT, a type of consumption tax, in 1991 to boost collection from domestic sources. The consumption tax is the biggest source of revenue followed by direct or income tax. It accounted for 36 percent of revenue collection in fiscal 2015-16, according to the NBR.
The revenue administration aims to implement the new VAT and Supplemen-tary Duty Act 2012 from July 1 next year under an automated platform. It has already launched re-registration online in line with its plan to implement the law in an online environment.
Rahman said a uniform VAT rate will be applied in the new law along with automation. “The new law has many advantages. The discretionary power of revenue offices has been reduced in the new law,” he said, adding that the online system would also cut the need to visit field offices by firms.
Firms with Tk 30 lakh in annual turnover will be exempted from VAT under the latest legislation, he added.
The NBR is going to give electronic cash registers to shops as part of its plan to ensure compliance at the retail and wholesale levels. We will also open a call centre to answer VAT-related queries by taxpayers.
To observe VAT Week and VAT Day, the NBR has arranged various programmes including rallies, seminars, decorating the field offices and streets with posters, billboards and running documentaries on television and radio.
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