Import duty, VAT raise tax receipts in March
Tax collection increased in March thanks to improvement in receipts from import duty and value added tax (VAT), showed provisional data from the National Board of Revenue (NBR).
The revenue authority logged Tk 178,263 crore in the July-March period of fiscal 2020-21, up 7.31 per cent year-on-year.
Despite the growth, overall collection was 78 per cent of the target of Tk 227,764 crore in the nine months to March this fiscal year.
It means that taxmen will have to collect Tk 121,837 crore in the remaining three months to attain the revised collection target of Tk 300,100 crore in the fiscal year ending in June.
"We will be able to achieve the rest of the revenue goal as the effect of current lockdown will not be high on the economy," said Md Anwar Hossain, director general of research and statistics of the NBR.
Last year, imports particularly from China suffered after the lockdown. "This year, imports are on and we have registered increased collection of tariffs because of imports," he said.
The NBR collected 12.15 per cent higher customs duty year-on-year to Tk 53,988 crore in the July-March period of the current fiscal year.
"There will be not much problems this year," he said.
In case of the VAT, the biggest sources of revenue for the NBR, collection is also unlikely to be affected that much, said Hossain.
"Telecommunication, tobacco consumption and petroleum account for a big portion of our VAT receipts. Collection from these areas will not decline," he said, replying to the effect of the ongoing "lockdown" on business and economic activities.
"Industries and offices have been open. We are unlikely to see a decline like the previous year," he said.
During the July-March period of the current fiscal, VAT collection grew 5 per cent year-on-year to Tk 68,470 crore from that of a year ago, showed data by the NBR.
Income tax collection soared 5.59 per cent year-on-year to Tk 55,803 crore in the nine months until March this fiscal year, showed data by the NBR.