NBR revenue grows 14pc
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has recorded 14 percent growth in revenue in the July-November period of the current fiscal year compared to the same period last year, thanks to an improved taxation.
During the five-month period, the board has achieved 24 percent growth in income tax collection, while the growth rates in value added tax (VAT) and customs duty were 20 percent and 5 percent respectively.
The total revenue in the period stood at around Tk 21,309 crore, of which around Tk 4,272 crore came from income tax, Tk 7,649 crore from VAT and Tk 8,816 crore from customs duty, according to NBR.
However the customs department has posted a minimal growth mainly because of the global financial meltdown and a decline in import.
The government in the current fiscal year has set a target of collecting higher revenue than the previous year -- 38 percent growth in revenue from import, 33 percent in VAT and 27 percent growth in income tax.
"We are trying to improve our tax collection system by introducing simpler methods and technology, which also helped collect more revenue in the July-November period. If we can streamline the entire taxation system, it will increase revenue collection further," said NBR Chairman Dr Nasiruddin Ahmed.
"At the same time, we are trying to enhance the board's strength, and bring more transparency and accountability, which we hope will help boost revenue collection," he added.
Ahmed said the number of taxpayers has increased to around 7.53 lakh until November from 6.56 lakh last year. However the number of the taxpayer identification number (TIN) holders is around 2.4 million now.
The NBR chief said a move is under way to set up 'dedicated benches' in the Supreme Court to handle NBR-related cases and promptly collect the revenues in due.
"Revenue will increase further after setting up two dedicated benches for resolving tax-related cases involving settlement of Tk 8,000 crore revenue," he said.
He also said the government plans to introduce Alternative Dispute Resolution for out-of-court settlement of cases.
The NBR started a tax survey from August to net 4 lakh more taxpayers within the current fiscal year.
The tax administrator is working to introduce an online tax payment system by next month to upgrade the existing tax returns submission procedure. In this process, the taxpayers will be able to pay tax online from January.
Ahmed said the board now works to rationalise the tariff structure and remove anomalies in the taxation to encourage more taxpayers to submit VAT, customs duties and income taxes.
The NBR chief said they will set up a national data centre to provide adequate information to help taxpayers avoid hassles.
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