The National Board of Revenue (NBR) yesterday struck a deal with the Election Commission to utilise the voters' online database for verifying information before awarding tax identification number.
The deal will help stop people from obtaining fake TIN using fake names and addresses and generate more tax revenues to some extent, officials observed.
Mohasin Ali, a director of the EC, and AKM Badiul Alam, first secretary (Tax) of NBR, signed the memorandum of understanding at the EC conference room in the capital.
"When anyone applies for a TIN, the NBR cannot be certain about their identity only from the submitted papers. So, we seek a photocopy of their national ID," said Alam.
"But there are instances we have given TIN on the basis of fake photocopies. Now the agreement will help us crosscheck information directly, which will reduce the number of TIN in the country," Mohasin told The Daily Star.
"We have initiated the move so that people cannot obtain fake TIN. It will also help correct our own database and help us in tax collection," he said.
Under the deal, the NBR will be able to directly verify information of an applicant seeking TIN from the EC database for the next 10 years.
There are 2.6 million TIN-holders in the country, but only 0.9 million pay tax now, according to the NBR. The EC has a database of 8.6 crore voters.
At the agreement signing ceremony, Chief Election Commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda said several organisations in the country have already started using the national ID cards before taking any decision.
"So, we have taken steps to develop software to examine the database online. Now we are fully prepared," he said, adding that verification of the national ID cards is essential to provide any service.
NBR Chairman Nasiruddin Ahmed said the NBR not only collects revenue but also provides various services through certification of TIN.
"It has been difficult for the NBR to identify the genuine taxpayers as there are many TIN-holders in the country," he said.
Income tax is the second biggest source of revenue after the value added tax.
Experts however say the impact of the initiative might not be too significant.
"It will give opportunities to NBR to crosscheck information," said AB Mirza Azizul Islam, a former caretaker government adviser. "However, the EC did not verify information when its database was prepared. It has included in the database whatever information was given by an individual."
Islam also said the NBR should do its own work rather than relying on other agencies. "It is their responsibility to collect information about a taxpayer. But we do not see much activities on part of them other than conducting some surveys," he told The Daily Star over phone.
He added the NBR should first try to ensure 100 percent tax return submission of all TIN-holders.
An NBR official said the move might not bring a revolutionary result but will give benefit in the long run. "It was long overdue," he commented.
Asked about the authenticity of the national ID database, Alam said: "We are working considering the database ideal. The same database is being used in elections and also for issuing passports or opening bank accounts. So, it has acceptability and its use is increasing."
He said the NBR does not have that kind of logistics to conduct inspection on its own to crosscheck information. "We cannot go door to door. People come to our office, submit some documents and we give the TIN."
Election commissioners M Sohul Hussain and M Sakhawat Hossain and NBR members MA Quader Sarker and Md Farid Uddin were present during the agreement signing ceremony.