Revenue collection slips in first month

The government's 'challenging' revenue earning target has missed the mark in the very first month of the ongoing fiscal year and the prospect for the month ahead also appears bleak because of the devastating floods.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) could net Tk 1,804 crore against a target of Tk 1,959 crore in July, leaving a deficit of Tk 155 crore, according to the NBR officials.

The revenue collection target for the ongoing 2004-2005 fiscal year has been set at Tk 32,190 crore, which is around19 percent more than last fiscal year's projected revenue earnings. It is about 24 percent higher than last fiscal year's actual revenue collection.

Finance Minister M Saifur Rahman in his budget speech had dubbed the target a 'challe- nging' one, but noted it is achievable through reforms to the tax administration and an appropriate rationalisation of tariff and tax rates.

The NBR officials, however, observed the revenue earning target for this fiscal year is elusive if the past records are anything to go by. The field-level officers of the NBR have termed the target 'ambitious", which is next to impossible to achieve, said an NBR official, who spoke on condition that he not be named.

Other NBR high officials said the industrial production has slumped because of the monsoon flooding, which will have an adverse impact on import that accounts for the bulk of the revenue income. "That's why the revenue earning deficit will widen in August," said the NBR official.

A high official of the NBR said the growth rate in July was 11.80 percent, which was 10.25 percent in the same month last year. The deficit in revenue collection from income tax was Tk 61 crore and import, VAT and others at Tk 94 crore.