Tax camps to boost NBR collections

The National Board of Revenue has started holding tax camps to increase the tax net and encourage people to be compliant, said its chairman yesterday.

The tax authority is also planning to award families whose every member pay tax regularly with the “Tax Hero” title.

“We are also considering a pause in auditing of tax returns for some time to reduce pressure on taxpayers,” said NBR Chief Nojibur Rahman at a programme held at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh in Dhaka.

The ICAB organised the event on the changes in income tax rules and measures in the fiscal year 2017-18.

Rahman, also a senior secretary to the Internal Resources Division, said there are allegations from taxpayers about harassment while auditing of tax returns.

“We are trying to reduce that,” he said, while calling upon chartered accountants to work in partnership with the tax administration such that the state gets the due amount of taxes.

The NBR will give emphasis on direct tax collection to boost its collection in light of the deferral of the implementation of the new VAT law to 2019.

“We will run tax camps. We will go to people and persuade them that they would not face any hassle by paying tax,” Rahman said.

The tax authority is also planning to hold 200 tax camps throughout the country, including Dhaka, this fiscal year, said a senior NBR official.

Some 30 lakh taxpayers have so far signed for the Taxpayers' Identification Number, but analysts are saying that the number of potential taxpayers is higher than that.

The NBR is also planning to bring businesses under its tax net based on the register developed by the Statistics Division.

“There would be no coercive measure,” the NBR official said.

The tax authority is also working to frame a new income tax law as part of its reforms.

Rahman said his office plans to finalise the draft law -- to be dubbed the Direct Tax Code -- by October and seek opinions from stakeholders including CAs to make the legislation easy, rich and taxpayer-friendly.

“We want to place the draft at the cabinet by January next year so that we can finalise the income tax law next year,” he added.

ICAB President Adeeb Hossain Khan wanted the NBR to frame business-friendly measures.