Revenue exceeds target for first time

NBR Chairman Abdul Mazid briefs the press yesterday

The National Board of Revenue (NBR), for the first time in the country's history, exceeded its revenue target and earned an excess of Tk 1,000 crore for the fiscal year 2007-08.
The actual revenue target for the fiscal 2007-08 was Tk43, 850crore. It stood at Tk45, 970crore in the revised target. The board earnings stood at Tk47, 200crore, which was Tk37, 219crore in the fiscal year 2006-07.
The growth in revenue earnings compared to the 2006-07 fiscal also saw a record 27 percent rise. The board's year on year revenue growth was between 9 and 14 percent in the last four fiscal years.
“This is for the first time the revenue earnings not just exceeded its target but also increased than the revised one,” NBR Chairman Muhammad Abdul Mazid told a press briefing yesterday.
Usually, revised target cuts the actual revenue target. But the revised target for the fiscal 2007-08 was set more than the actual target, he added.
Previously unrecovered taxes also contributed to make a big earning figure.. The board recovered Tk1200crore due tax from the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC). It also got extra Tk804crore as tax from undisclosed money holders, Mazid said.
According to him, greater transparency and accountability in tax administration, cooperation of the taskforce and an improvement in tax paying culture are the main reasons to have such significant earnings.
Income tax also witnessed a significant growth of 33 percent in the 2006-07 fiscal, which was 22 percent in the corresponding fiscal. The revenue growth in case of VAT (value added tax) doubled to 22 percent in the '07 fiscal.
From import, tax-earning growth was 27 percent in '08 fiscal, which was only 2 percent in the fiscal year 2006-07.
During the press briefing, NBR also disclosed the country's largest taxpayers' lists. When asked about plans to disclose the tax dodgers' names, its chairman said it should be published.
According to the NBR chairman, tobacco companies are on the top of the highest taxpayer lists followed by the mobile phone companies.
According to the NBR list, Grameenphone is on top of the bank dominance income tax paying list. The top income tax paying organisations with the amounts paid are Grameenphone- Tk 435 crore, Standard Chartered Bank- Tk 220 crore, Chevron Bangladesh Blocks 13 and 14 Ltd- Tk 180 crore, Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd- Tk161 crore, Titas Gas (TND) Company Ltd- Tk136 crore, HSBC- Tk118 crore, Southeast Bank Ltd- Tk88 crore, Pubali Bank Ltd- Tk 78 crore, Citibank NA Ltd- Tk76 crore and Prime Bank Ltd- Tk 67 crore.
The ten top VAT payers with the amounts paid are British-American Tobacco- Tk 2,828 crore, Grameenphone- Tk 1,438 crore, Dhaka Tobacco- Tk 1,180 crore, Titas Gas Field- Tk 764 crore, Sheba Telecom- Tk 601 crore, Habiganj Gas Field- Tk 465 crore, AKTEL- Tk 277 crore, Kailastila Gas Field- Tk 196 crore, Rural Electrification Board- Tk 105 crore and Rashidpur Gas Field- Tk 101 crore.