No hike in income tax, plan to widen collection

With a plan to collect more tax, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has proposed not to increase the tax rate.

"For this purpose, we have taken an initiative to bring new taxpayers under the tax net instead of burdening the existing taxpayers with more tax," the finance minister informed the parliament while placing his maiden budget of around Tk 523,190 crore at the Jatiya Sangsad this afternoon.

During the last ten years of the government, a large number of people become eligible to pay income tax, an outcome of "unprecedented economic growth and development" in the country, he said.

"At the field level, the number of Taxes Zone will be increased to 63 from existing 31. For making the tax administration more goal-oriented, job-oriented and taxpayers-friendly, the tax intelligence, investigation, and enforcement unit; digital tax management unit; tax deduction management unit; tax information unit; international tax unit; taxpayer service, public relations and infrastructure unit; and tax dispute resolution unit will be set up. I hope, with successful implementation of these initiatives, revenue on average will grow by 25 percent in the coming years, and the Tax-GDP ratio will increase to 15 percent by 2021," he said in his speech.